


Of Heroes and Rogues

by parisienneheart



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Crimes & Criminals, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 07:50:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4471232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parisienneheart/pseuds/parisienneheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zayn is a masked crime-fighter who works in a comic shop. Louis is the thief that keeps slipping away from him, but after he steals a unique necklace from the wrong person, it brings him a lot more trouble than he bargained for--and it brings him closer to his favourite superhero.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Heroes and Rogues

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bohemu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bohemu/gifts).



> First of all, I want to thank my beta [ maybellemilk](http://maybellemilk.tumblr.com) and [TC](http://multishippinfool.tumblr.com) and [failurebydesign ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/failurebydesign/pseuds/failurebydesign)for the hand-holding throughout the process of this fic! I really appreciated all your valuable input and reassurance :)
> 
> This was such a fun story to write and I really loved the prompt (as I am a bit of a comic/superhero nerd myself), so I only hope that my recipient enjoys it!
> 
> Happy reading! ♥

It's 8:36pm on a Tuesday night in October. The wind had pushed away the heavy rain from earlier in the day, so only small streams of water were dripping from the roof of the comic shop Louis had been browsing in for the past twenty minutes.

Louis hadn't bothered with an umbrella earlier, a hoodie his only protection from the rain, so the points of his hair were damp and frizzing. His bare feet squelched in the bottom of his puddle-soaked Vans as he walked across the carpet of the shop, not that he paid much attention because he was so absorbed in the plot of the Uncanny X-Men issue he was reading.

"Hey, mate? Are you going to buy anything tonight?"

Louis picked up his head, then whipped it around to see the dark-haired cashier standing with his palms flat on the counter. He was eyeing Louis through his thick-rimmed glasses with a purse of his lips.

"Look, I'm sorry," the cashier sighed, "but I've noticed you. Every time you come in, you just read for like an hour and like, that's cool if you can't afford to buy some comics right now, but I'm absolutely knackered and I'd like to go home if you're not going to buy anything."

Louis froze up and looked around. No one else was in the shop besides him. "Sorry, mate."

"It's cool, just..." The cashier anxiously glanced backward at the clock, then turned back to Louis as he bit the corner of his lip. "Please, I'm only open twenty more minutes. No one else is coming in at this hour on a Tuesday."

Louis cleared his throat as he replaced his comics in the stacks. "Yeah, sure."

"You know... like, you can buy the issue and return it. If you wanted to finish reading, that is." The cashier had his lips pressed together in a disarming smile.

Louis scoffed. "I can afford to buy my own comics."

The cashier shrugged. "Really? Then why haven't you once done so?"

"Fine, I will." Louis trudged back to the stack, grabbed the comics he was looking at and then sauntered over to the counter, slapping them down. He quickly glanced up and met eyes with the cashier, then felt taken aback.

He had never seen the bloke from this close before. He could always tell he was good-looking from far, but Christ—this might be the most attractive man Louis has ever seen, with his dark, perfectly trimmed beard framing a chiselled face, rosy, plush lips underneath eyes that were dark, yet bright at the same time, and even a nose that looked perfect—not that Louis was an expert on perfect noses. His hair was voluminous and dark, swept forward and taller towards the middle of his head, though some of his hair in the front curved to the right over his forehead. The bloke also had sick tattoos on his hand and arms that were revealed from below the pushed up sleeves of his olive jumper.

"Eight sixty," the cashier cheerfully said, bringing Louis back to reality. He tried not to stare too much at his face.

Luckily at that moment, the TV got a bit louder as there was a breaking news story. Louis glanced up and saw a shot panning the scene of a robbery in Camden.

_"...so far the police have not been able to infiltrate the building, though locals are wondering if and when the Black Streak will arrive to save the day..."_

The screen transitioned to video of a man in a black outfit and mask fighting and taking down a gunman at a previous robbery.

"That Black Streak fellow is pretty amazing, eh?" Louis remarked as he grinned up at the screen.

"Er, I guess?" the cashier shrugged as he bagged Louis's comics.

Louis finally turned back to him. "He's doing what we read about in the comics! He's doing some real good!"

The cashier scratched at his scruffy chin. "Yeah, maybe. The law enforcement aren't too keen on him, however."

"Because he's doing their job," Louis shot back.

The cashier raised his eyebrow and twitched his mouth into the ghost of a smirk.

Louis looked up to the screen. They were showing old footage of the Black Streak scaling and jumping down from a building.

"You would think a cape is so cliché and boring, but he actually pulls it off pretty well, wouldn't you reckon?" he asked the cashier.

"It's not a cape," the cashier flatly replied.

"What?"

The cashier cleared his throat. "I mean... if you look closely on the telly, like... you can see he's got it wrapped around his neck and face like a scarf."

Louis sceptically eyed the cashier. "Yeah, well, looks like a cape to me. Still pretty sick. Like how it only hangs off one shoulder." He cleared his throat and ducked his head. He was fanboying too much.

"You're a big fan, I take it?" The cashier crossed his arms and coyly smiled at Louis.

Louis felt heat course through his neck. He brought a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat again. "Well, I wouldn't call myself a 'big' fan. I just think the bloke is kind of sick."

The cashier smiled more gently now. "I'm sure he'd appreciate having fans." To Louis's dismay, he was even more attractive with that expression, his eyes practically twinkling under fluorescent light.

"Yeah, well--cheers!" Louis said as he gestured to his bag of comics.

"Cheers. Have a good night!" the cashier called as Louis shuffled away.

Louis was glad for the cold air to take away the heat that had been building up in his cheeks. He glanced down the street. He'd love to go towards Camden to see if the Black Streak would show up at the robbery (of course he would!).

But Louis had more important things to do that night, so he turned and stalked away in the opposite direction.

+

  
  


As soon as that last lingering customer left—which Zayn still kind of felt bad about—he locked the doors and turned off the lights of the comic shop. Then he dashed into the break room to get out his rucksack from the locker. He slipped on his textile trousers, chest and wrist guards, gloves, and zipped up a textile jacket—all of this black, of course. Then he put on the black scarf that attached to his shoulders with clasps. He looped it once around his neck, partially covering the lower half of his face as it glided behind him. After securely attaching a black mask over his eyes, he put on a black helmet with a shiny, tinted face guard and grabbed a set of keys out of his pocket.

Time for his real job to begin.

He hopped onto his motorcycle and zoomed towards Camden, wondering how much the situation may have escalated by the time he arrived.

Because of his bike's quiet muffler, Zayn's presence wasn't obvious as he circled around the perimeter of the bank and shut off his headlight. After stowing his bike in a small corner, he swiftly and stealthily made his way along the edge of the glass building.

The police had surrounded the bank with their firearms officers waiting behind police cars and nearby ledges of opposing buildings, and even a helicopter was hovering not too far away. There was a gunman with a female hostage inside near the front doors, and it looked as though the police were trying to talk to the man through the use of a megaphone.

"This is your last chance! Release the hostage and surrender and you will not be harmed. Refuse and we will be forced to shoot!"

The woman on the inside shook her head and screamed something that Zayn took as a protest. The gunman threw his head back, laughed, and gestured to himself with a contemptuous expression.

"All right, men... On the count of three!" the police officer announced. "One... Two... "

There was no way they were going to actually shoot, right?

Zayn still had his helmet in hand and gripped it tight. He ran forward and swung the helmet towards the side door he was stationed at.

The glass cracked and bits of it fell down. Zayn reached back, then punched the helmet through the crack again, causing most of the glass in the door to collapse as he tumble-rolled through to escape it.

"Hey! You, stop!" the police yelled.

As expected, the gunman wasn't alone and had three other accomplices wearing balaclavas, who promptly came at Zayn with guns bared. Zayn ducked out of the way and he threw his long scarf over one of the accomplices, struck the other one to his left with his helmet, and the final one came at him with a gun that Zayn kicked away. He used his helmet to strike at the latter accomplice, knocking him out. Meanwhile, the one with the scarf over his head was still struggling, and Zayn sent a punch to his face before retrieving his scarf and clasping it back onto his shoulders.

He whipped back around to see where the leader of the gang was and noticed that the guy didn't have a mask on. He was red-faced with shaggy, light brown hair and a thick beard. His mouth was dropped open in shock as he glanced toward his K.O.'ed friends.

"How in the hell did you get through that door? I thought that glass was bulletproof!" the robber sputtered.

"Magic!" Zayn replied as he shook off small pieces of glass that still rested on his shoulder. The truth was that his helmet was made of shatter-resistant polycarbonate. Likely stronger than whatever the building's windows were made of.

The robber scoffed, then his gun clicked as he released the safety. Zayn's eyes widened and he got a better look at the young female hostage now, who looked not much older than him. She had dark hair and her cheeks were streaked with tears.

Her captor looked scared, too, his eyes bugging out as he held her closer and pressed the barrel of the gun against her head.

"Mate, you don't want to do that..." Zayn calmly stated, placing his hands out towards the side.

"I will blow her head off if you take one more step!" the man barked.

The woman's face crumpled as more tears streamed down.

Zayn cleared his throat. "Okay, take it easy, mate. Let's just talk this out."

"Bollocks—talk it out, and then get arrested?" He shook his head. "No way! You're gonna let me walk out with my earnings and you're gonna do it so I don't blow off this pretty girl's head!"

Zayn turned his head and spotted a black open bag near the counter, where his accomplices had previously been keeping watch.

" _Your_ earnings?" Zayn repeated.

"Yeah, me earnings," the robber sneered. "Now, you gonna be smart and let me out of here, or are the papers gonna make a real criminal of you yet once you're responsible for murdering sweet ol' Mara here?"

The girl whimpered. "Just do what you have to!"

Zayn narrowed his eyes in anger and swallowed. "I don't want you to get hurt, Miss."

He backed away and a sleazy grin grew on the robber's face. "That was easy. Heh, some hero you are."

Zayn continued to back up until he pulled a lighter from inside the sleeve over his wrist. Once he got near the open bag of money, he flicked on the lighter. "Well, I do prefer to avoid as much harm to innocents as I can."

"The fuck is that?" the robber questioned.

Zayn raised an eyebrow. "You ever seen fire before? Or is it too much for your neanderthal mind?"

The robber's face turned even redder. "Hey! What are you going to do with that?"

"If I can't get my hostage, I can sure as fuck still take your money," Zayn nonchalantly said as he hovered his arm lower.

"You leave my money alone!" the robber shouted.

"Nah, see, if you don't let her go, I'm going to blow your whole stash," Zayn replied.

"You wouldn't fucking do it. That money belongs to the bank. You'd be just as guilty as me."

"Mate, I'm not the one committing armed robbery and threatening innocent ladies at gunpoint." Zayn flicked the lighter off and then back on.

"You're bluffing!" the robber shouted.

Zayn curled the corner of his lips into a smile, then dropped his lighter into the bag. Immediately the bills caught fire.

"Shit!" the man pushed Mara away and pointed his gun at Zayn. Before he could shoot, Mara pushed the robber's arm up and elbowed him in the face, which gave Zayn an opportunity to dash over and take him down. He knocked the gun out of the robber's hands and fist-fought him—an easy battle—until Zayn got the upper hand and wrestled him down so he was flat on the floor facedown.

"Can I have your scarf?" Zayn asked Mara as he all but knelt on the robber's back.

Mara's eyes widened and then she undid the colourful Ascot on her neck. Zayn fastened knots around the wrists of the groaning half-conscious man underneath him.

Zayn stood up as soon as he saw police advance from the outside. He went over to the bag of money that was lit on fire and stamped it out with his gloves. The damage wasn't that bad. The bills could still be used.

"Thanks for the assist," he told Mara as he gently placed a hand on her elbow. "Are you okay?"

"Thank you!" she replied as she jumped forward and hugged him.

Pleasantly surprised, Zayn smiled and hugged her back, leaning his chin on her shoulder. "You're welcome! Uh... I've gotta go!"

Mara smiled. "Thank you. You're my hero."

"Anytime," Zayn answered before darting out towards the side from where he entered.

But there were loads of people there, too.

"We saw the whole thing! It was so brave!" a reporter said as she approached him with her microphone and camera team.

"And reckless! You destroyed bank property!" a police officer chastised.

"Oh, come on! He's a hero!" the reporter argued.

"Vigilantes are not law enforcement. You're coming back to the station to answer some questions!" The policeman advanced towards Zayn.

"I don't think so," Zayn said as he turned around and ran, putting on his helmet and grabbing his keys from his pocket. He jumped onto a raised planter to evade the police man who was after him. Luckily, he had a remote control ignition switch and got his motorcycle to meet him as he dismounted off the planter with a brief salute to the police. He landed with grace, the tail of his long scarf catching enough wind to slow his descent.

He sped off, rounding the perimeter of the square in front of the bank. The crowd that was watching the whole scene cheered just before the police rushed towards him.

"Oi! Get back here!"

Zayn grinned to himself as he sped down the street, losing the police cars.

+

  
  


"So fucking sick," Louis breathed out as he watched the Black Streak zoom away, his scarf whipping away in the wind. He and his flatmate Liam were watching the live news broadcast on the telly in the kitchen as Louis had a foot up on a chair, strapping up a suede boot around one of his calves.

"You're still going to go through with this?" Liam asked as he handed black gloves over to Louis across their small wooden dining table.

"Yes, Liam, of course." Louis glanced up and snatched the gloves from Liam's hand. "Especially now that there's been all this coverage on that robbery, no one will be expecting another one in the same night."

Louis grinned at Liam before slipping on his mask, which looked like a balaclava, but was made out of spandex. His entire outfit was designed to provide him mobility: black polyester leggings and a black athletic long sleeve shirt that were both form fitting on Louis. The boots were skinny as well, strapped snugly around his calves.

"You better hope the neighbours don't see you leaving our flat like that," Liam dryly laughed as he crossed his arms.

Louis stuck his tongue out, then pulled his mask back up over his eyebrows. "They won't. I'm a stealth master, aren't I?"

"Just be careful. The Black Streak is still out there. And he showed the entire city what he could do tonight." Liam raised a chastising brow at Louis.

Louis huffed out a sigh. "Liam..."

"When should I expect you back?" Liam asked, his brow still furrowed in concern.

The last time Louis did this, he left at one in the morning and Liam had waited up for him until three o'clock, only a few hours before he had to go in to work.

Louis walked up to Liam and gave him a crooked smile. "Come on, go to bed at a reasonable hour." He patted Liam's shoulder. "You'll make me feel like an arsehole if I keep you up."

"That's my own decision," Liam argued with a stern pout of his lips. "Just don't want to wake up and find you missing is all. Or see your mugshot on the telly."

"You can bet it'd be a fuckin' ace mugshot, though," Louis wiggled an eyebrow at him.

Liam softly chuckled and his eyes warmed. "Yeah, it would be. But seriously, Lou... You're my best friend. I worry."

"Oh, come on Liam. Chin up, I'll be all right," Louis said as he lightly jabbed a curled fist at Liam's jaw.

Liam sighed and smiled. "You better be."

Louis smirked and pulled back down his mask, which left most of his jaw exposed. "You're the best, Alfred!"

"I'm not your butler!" Liam protested. "And you are hardly Batman!"

Louis rolled his eyes, then walked toward the door. "Everyone's got an unpretty origin story, Liam. This is mine."

"And what exactly are you going to become?" Liam asked, looking worried once more.

Louis shrugged and pouted his lips. "Don't know yet."

+

  
  


Zayn led a police chase for nearly an hour, until they completely lost him and not even the helicopters had a trace of his location. Once he was in the clear, he took a leisurely ride back home to Southwark, where he lived in a small flat in the middle of an 8-unit bedsit.

Zayn made sure to keep his scarf tucked into his helmet and removed his mask before heading up the stairs to his flat. He glanced left and right in the shadowy corridor to see if anyone was around, then unlocked his door and stepped inside. Finally home.

He let out a deep exhale as he shut the door, then put his helmet and scarf down on the coffee table as he walked into the living room. Niall, his flatmate, was sitting atop a stool at the adjacent kitchen counter working on his laptop whilst nursing a bottle of cider.

"Wahey, you were all over the telly, tonight, mate!" Niall greeted Zayn as Zayn pulled off his gloves, one in his mouth.

Zayn nodded, released the glove from his mouth, and then dropped face-first onto the plush beige couch that took up half of their small living room.

Niall laughed. "Long day?"

Zayn groaned in reply, as his face was pressed into a cushion.

Niall's phone chimed five times in a row and he frowned down as he swiped to read the messages.

"Ooh... Erm..."

"What is it, Niall?" Zayn muttered as he turned his head.

"There was another burglary tonight in Kensington. Police just got wind of it and my boss stalks the police line every night, so word just got sent out to the entire staff—race to see who gets the story first, you know the drill. "

Zayn weakly picked up his head.

Niall's phone chimed again and he shook his head and groaned. "Ugh, boss wants the story to centre around how you failed to catch this guy and how you only save the day as long as a camera is there."

Zayn bent his brow. "What? Why? I didn't even know there was another robbery 'til five seconds ago. What about what I did earlier?"

"Guy that got robbed is crazy-rich. He's paying to have this burglary be the headline. And my boss isn't going to say no to that," Niall groaned.

"Why put my name in it, though..." Zayn grumbled. "What about the police who didn't catch the guy, either?"

Niall took a swig from his bottle of cider and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, well... you know how the Editor is... hates your guts for refusing an interview that one time and he's got a negotiation with the police as part of his funding—has to write in their interest."

Zayn groaned and sat up now, squinting his eyes to where Niall sat with his laptop."Well, it's not just him. A few other papers have been writing shit about me, too." He sighed. "You'd think fighting crime and saving people would get you fans, but I'm more like the town witch."

"I know, Zayn. I'm sorry." Niall stood up and walked over to where Zayn sat. "Hey, loads of journalists are gonna write great things about ya! You got to show half of your pretty mug on screen anyway." He rubbed a hand along Zayn's jaw.

A grin curled on Zayn's mouth. "Such a sweet talker you are."

Niall beamed at him.

"Of course," Zayn continued, "I can never let anyone see my face, you know that."

"Shame. Only I get to know the good-looking man behind the mask. For all anyone else knows, yer face is covered in spots and warts," Niall joked. Zayn rolled his eyes and gently pushed at Niall's shoulder.

Zayn breathed in deep as he looked towards Niall's phone. "Well, looks like I have my next assignment."

"You'll get 'em," Niall reassured him with a clap on his arm. "And eventually, the media is gonna run out of bad things to say about the amazing hero you are."

Zayn smiled. "I'm going to bed, then. Good luck finishing your assignments."

"Cheers!" Niall raised his bottle. Then he winked at Zayn. "G'night my superhero celebrity flatmate!"

+

 

After practically dragging himself out of bed to turn off his alarm, Louis pulled on a beanie over his mess of hair, feeling hardly refreshed from the five hours of sleep he got. He sauntered out of his room and over the creaky wooden floor of the corridor towards the smell of coffee.

"Morning, Robin Hood," Liam greeted Louis as he sat sipping at his mug of coffee at the kitchen table.

Louis rolled his eyes at the same joke Liam had been saying for two weeks now. He looked so smug and satisfied with himself that Louis wanted to say something to shut him down, but he was not yet awake enough to do so. All he could do was squint at Liam as he picked up an empty mug from the table that Liam had set out for him.

"You're in the news, by the way," Liam said, less cheerful this time.

"Since when do you read the news?" Louis scoffed with a flick at Liam's ear as he moved across the kitchen.

"Louis, this is serious. You're wanted," Liam said, biting his bottom lip in that concerned way that always made Louis feel a tug of guilt in his chest.

"It's not like I'm stealing from innocent people!" Louis protested, his voice still creaky from having just woken up. "And I'm not keeping the money, either. This next spoil's going to a foundation for MS."

"They've got pictures of you." Liam picked up his iPhone and raised it so Louis could see.

Louis glanced down at the black and white photo of himself under the headline _BLACK STREAK IS M.I.A. AS BURGLAR ESCAPES WITH FORTUNE_. It was a night-vision security cam screenshot of Louis's profile, though his mask only left his jaw exposed.

"They're never going to be able to tell who it is. After all, I've got velvet fingers," Louis said as he wiggled his fingertips in the air.

Liam pursed his lips. "What about that bloke, the Black Streak?"

"What about him?" Louis said as he poured hot water into a mug.

"He'll go after you."

"Well, maybe I want him to," Louis argued as he turned around to face Liam.

Liam narrowed his eyes. "No, Louis, you don't! That guy is a vigilante--he doesn't have to play by the police's rules. He could hurt you."

"He's a good guy. He wouldn't hurt me if I didn't hurt him first—and I'm not going to!" Louis glanced up in thought. "We're not really different, him and I. I'm fighting the good fight, too."

"In your own creative way..." Liam breathed out.

"Is that a bit of judgement I detect, Liam?" Louis smiled and stretched his arms up, then froze, his breath catching at the pain in his back.

"Are you all right?" Liam asked, his brow furrowed.

"Had a bit of a rough landing last night... " Louis grunted as he brought a hand to his shoulder blade, feeling the burn and soreness in his upper back muscles.

Liam stood up, his brow furrowed. "Let me see."

"I'm fine, Liam," Louis grumbled as he took his arm away. But Liam walked up to him anyway and cornered him against the counter to begin peeling away his shirt.

"Liam forcefully stripping me down in the kitchen... what would Sophia think?" Louis teased.

Liam ignored his ribbing and sharply breathed in. "Jesus, Lou..."

"I bruise easily! It's nothing," Louis protested.

"Have you seen this? You have all these dark red marks!" Liam gently pressed two fingers against one of the bruises. "Does it hurt?'

Louis bit down on his lip to keep from whimpering. He sharply moved away from Liam, then pulled back down his shirt. "I'll survive, Payno."

Liam frowned and pursed his lips as he kept a firm gaze on Louis. "Just... how much longer are you going to do this?"

"I never should have let you in on it," Louis grumbled as he picked up his mug of tea. "All you do is nag at me!"

"Please, as if you could keep anything from me," Liam countered.

"I could!" Louis growled.

"Like your massive nerd boner for the Black Streak?" Liam smirked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Louis said as he sat down at the table.

"Right, well, one of these days you're going to get your wish and run into him." Liam followed Louis back to the table but didn't sit down. He sighed, the light leaving his face. "Hey, is this whole revenge scheme of yours really worth it? Wouldn't it be better to like, I don't know, start a petition? Some kind of campaign against these big business guys?"

Louis gave Liam a cold stare. "A petition's not going to get my mum's house back, is it? Remember, Liam—they destroyed it. There's nothing left. Just a construction site for some bloody shopping centre now."

Liam crossed his arms and nodded. "Well, what is stealing from them going to do?"

"It's going to keep honest people's money from staying in their grubby, money-hungry hands, that's what!"

"You think he'd agree?" Liam asked as he pointed towards the TV screen.

The news was replaying the footage from hours before, a zoomed in shot of the Black Streak fighting off the lead robber.

"I'm sure a cool bloke like him would let me explain," Louis answered before taking a tentative sip of his tea.

"Yeah, he'd let you explain," Liam dryly answered. "Then he'd arrest you."

"He would not," Louis argued, mostly for the sake of not letting Liam be right. "I would tell him these were bad men I was stealing from."

"So you're not quitting, are you?"

Louis raised his chin. "Of course not. I've only just begun. And who knows? Maybe I'll start targeting all the rich scumbags in this city."

Liam let out a surrendering sigh. "Please just stick with your small revenge plot. And let me know if you need a ride the next time."

Louis snorted. "Liam, you make it sound like this is footie practice."

"Well you spend enough time on it for it to be a hobby," Liam put his hands on his hips.

Louis quietly laughed. "Well then, while you're at it, you mind fixing me up some lunch?"

Liam reached across the table and scooped a heaping spoonful of sugar into Louis's tea.

Louis's mouth opened in dismay, then he breathed out a short laugh. He sent a warm look to Liam. "All right, I deserved that..."

+

  
  


Zayn was leaning over the counter at work with his phone in hands, looking at that article about the Kensington burglary that was blamed on him not being around. Although Niall had told him to ignore it, it was hard not to be curious of what people were going to read and say about him as the Black Streak.

The article itself was tame, said the same thing the police have been saying—the Black Streak should leave the crime-fighting to the professionals and that leading the police on a chase displayed disrespect towards the force. Which, well, Zayn couldn't say that wasn't true. He didn't have respect for the arseholes who were more focused on trying to get him arrested than focusing on the actual thugs and criminals in this city.

Just as he was going through some obviously trolling comments on the article, the bell on the door chimed. A customer had just come in, and once Zayn broke away from his phone, he realised it was the same bloke from the night of the robbery. His hair was dry tonight, pointed and swept in different directions that mostly converged on his right temple. He had a small plastic bag in hand.

"Hello," Zayn greeted as he slipped his phone into his back pocket.

"Hi," the bloke said as he walked up to the counter.

Zayn glanced down to the bag, which clearly had the issues he had bought the other night.

"So, you are returning those after all?" Zayn asked.

The bloke smiled, revealing pointy teeth. "I'm doing a trade."

"How were those?" Zayn asked.

The bloke tilted his head and picked up one side of his mouth in a slight grimace. "Well, I hate cliffhangers, especially when nothing in the issue happens."

Zayn smiled. "That's how they get you hooked. So you're always waiting for something to happen, then you gotta get the next one to see if it does."

The bloke breathed out a laugh. "Well, it's a good thing real life is a bit more interesting then."

Zayn blinked as he tried to figure out the meaning.

"I mean the Black Streak of course!" the bloke added with a rosy grin. Zayn swore his blue eyes had just become five times brighter.

"Oh," Zayn smiled back.

"Did you catch the news the other night?" the pointy-haired bloke asked as he placed his hands in his jean jacket pockets, as if that would contain the enthusiasm with which he spoke. "So fucking sick, just like... he didn't even beat up that robber, he just—" The bloke snapped his fingers.

Zayn softly laughed. "I actually wasn't able to watch it. But sounds like it was pretty exciting."

"You must think I'm like some bloody fanboy, but I'm tellin' ya, it was awesome!" The bloke's eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled. "By the way, he used his cape as a fighting tactic."

"You mean his scarf?" Zayn asked.

"Bullfighters use capes, right? Well he was like a bullfighter that night, using it to confuse those robbers," the bloke replied. "Surely it's a cape."

Zayn breathed in deep. He was going to have to argue this forever, wasn't he? "If it's a cape, why does he wear it over his face and neck?"

"To look cool, obviously," the bloke quipped without falter.

Zayn burst out into a laugh. "Yeah, I suppose that seems reason enough."

The bloke laughed. "Well, I'm gonna go look around."

"Yeah, mate, go ahead. Hope something happens tonight!"

Zayn was already planning on it.

He did some research on the robbery and discovered that it probably wasn't the first one. Various high-profile banks in London had been looted into over the past week and a half, and all the robbery victims were connected. After Niall helped Zayn put together a diagram connecting the various projects and business deals each of these corporate hot-shots had been involved in during recent months, it all came together in one single project.

They were all partners on a board that approved the construction of what was to become a shopping centre as well as a condominium, each of their respective companies claiming stake on the property.

So far, three of them had at least one million pounds combined looted from their personal accounts. Two of them had their fortunes in a bank, and the third had a secure safe at his home in Notting Hill, which had been broken into with hardly a trace left except for a surveillance tape of the thief leaving. The two banks also had a high security system that left them baffled as to how anyone could get in and out without triggering the main alarm system.

Zayn watched the surveillance tapes (accessed by Niall) over and over again, noting the thief's movements and patterns. He was quite skilled at slipping in and out with speed. Not always the most graceful, but he improvised well—as exemplified by using a cigarette to burn smoke in front of the camera and a piece of chewing gum to keep it in place on the wall.

So far the police haven't been able to catch the thief and the pressure was on Zayn now. Maybe if he caught this thief, it could get the city and the police on his side. After the footage of the bank rescue went viral, it sparked debate from both sides: people who thought the Black Streak was a hero and those who thought he should just let the police handle it.

Zayn thought back to that customer in the comic shop who had been talking about how "sick" the Black Streak was. It still made his chest have butterflies to know there were people who admired his work. It was enough to keep him going.

Zayn had been doing this for about four months now. At first, it started out as going after petty shoplifters and high school bullies (he didn't hurt the little wankers, though he did scare them). Then it escalated into saving people from burning buildings, handling bank robberies, dispatching of would-be assaulters outside bars and clubs, helping weak or elderly homeless people find shelter and food at night, and the occasional rescue of a cat in a tree.

He was simply trying to do good. He had no evil super-powered arch-nemesis, no chemically-mutated villains or monsters to fight, and no sidekick even, but one day a camera caught him saving a bus full of kids before the vehicle blew up, and it turned him into a superhero. Someone that was recognized for going out of their way to help when there was trouble.

Now he just needed to get the law to see that.

After researching the remaining of the five businessmen involved in the building project, Zayn thought he might predict the next robbery victim. If he was right... the perfect time to strike would be while CEO Von Dellen was at a banquet celebrating a close acquaintance's political fundraiser.

"Why exactly are you making me break the law again?" Niall groaned as Zayn was getting ready to go out.

"Can you figure out where this guy keeps his money?" Zayn said as he tucked his jacket sleeves into his gloves.

"Are you serious?" Niall asked, his voice hitching into a nervous laugh.

Zayn nodded. "I'm gonna beat the thief tonight."

Niall briefly raised an eyebrow. "Sure, let's just do a bit of internet stalking."

"Thank you, Niall," Zayn cooed to his ear before he gently pressed a peck to Niall's fluffy hair.

"Yeah, you owe me!" Niall said with a sweet grin curling up his cheek. "You know, you're lucky that as a journalist I'm allowed to bend the rules a bit."

"All for the greater good!" Zayn grinned wide as he gave Niall two thumbs up. "Then this city won't have any more excuses to hate me."

Niall laughed, then turned back to his laptop. "You know, Zayn, if you'd just let me write a glowing piece on you in the paper, then—"

"Then people would get suspicious of you and think you had some sort of connection to the Black Streak. Then you would be targeted for information. And I can't do that to you, Niall." Zayn had his arms crossed. He had chosen to be honest with Niall from the beginning about his endeavours, but there was no way he was going to endanger Niall's life. Especially when he was a writer for one of the most popular papers in London.

Niall sighed. "Yeah, yeah... you've said that a million times."

"I still mean it!" Zayn said before he Then he placed on his smooth leather mask, which resembled a Venetian mask in its winged shape, and tied it securely behind his head. Finally, he wrapped his scarf around his shoulder, covering his mouth once more."How do I look?"

"Like a legend," Niall answered with a fond smile.

+

  
  


It was raining light tonight, and despite Liam's protests, Louis still made his way over to Von Dellen's bank in the financial district. He had endured months of preparation to wait for the opportune moment to strike. He wasn't going to back down because of a little rain now.

Louis had stalked each of these men he was stealing from, learned their routines, learned personal information about them, impersonated office interns in order to get certain information pertaining to their finances, and he even recruited Liam to help cause casual distractions as Louis learned the ins and outs of the banks he broke into. Now, these were wealthy people he was stealing from, but he wasn't stupid enough to steal from where they actually kept most of their money. Those banks had too much security. So Louis targeted the smaller banks, where these business men kept their spending money. Small sums to them, but enough to make up for the damage they caused Louis and his family personally. Sure, it wasn't going to hurt their wallets, but a little insult like being able to take something of theirs and get away with it was enough for Louis.

Being relatively small and agile used to help him slip into events and concerts he didn't feel like paying for, or for some other borderline-illegal adventure he and Liam would get into. There was a period where they attempted to get to the rooftops of the three tallest buildings in London just to take a selfie—most often trespassing to do so. And despite having a reputation for having a loud mouth, he was very talented at subtle observation.

He had swiped a lock chip from one of the security guards two weeks prior and had memorized the key codes to get into the bank, and into the back vault where all the bigger money was. He ran into Von Dellen a month ago and slipped out his wallet—to quickly get an indent of his bank card information on baseplate wax (which he had swiped several pieces of from the dentist a few months back) and to strike up a conversation about his children as he handed him back the 'dropped' wallet.

Once inside the vault, Louis stepped lightly on the balls of his feet towards the safe he had identified as Von Dellen's from the account information he had gathered. As expected, the passcode to his safe was the name of his dearest granddaughter Annie and her birthdate. He opened up the box.

"Hello gorgeous," Louis whispered to the packets of money in the safe. He stuffed the eight bags, each containing thousands of pounds, into his rucksack. Once he tried to rummage for the bottom of the safe, however, he found another parcel in a yellow padded envelope. He opened up the flap that was glued closed and slid out a solid object into his hand. It was a jewelled pendant, nearly as big as his palm, glistening even under the low light of the vault.

"Drop the money," a low, muffled voice announced.

Louis shivered at the surprise of someone else being in here and darted his head up. Shit. Was it the police? Or security?

He glanced up and saw nothing in the vault, though the door was open, the black of the darkness the only thing he could see outside of it. He dropped the necklace into the envelope without whoever it was looking, then swept it into his rucksack.

"Are you going to come out and play or are you just going to stand out there all night?" Louis taunted as he closed the safe. As cool as he tried to appear, his heart was racing. He had never been caught in the act before.

He could hear some faint movement and then a dark, shimmering fabric came rippling out from the darkness.

It was The Black Streak.

Louis's heart thundered against his chest. "It's you!" he gasped.

The man fully emerged from the shadows now, not that he was much more visible, being clothed from head to toe in black, his scarf whipping away from him. "Sorry I stood you up all week, babe."

Louis scowled, though on the inside he admired how cheeky The Black Streak turned out to be in person. He shrugged the rucksack up onto his back and gripped the straps tight. "Sorry, mate, but I can't leave without these."

"Sorry, to you, mate, but I can't let you leave with that rucksack." The Black Streak waited at the door and Louis was only left with the option to try and get past him.

He tried to quickly think of what he had in his arsenal to put up a fight against the Black Streak. He didn't actually want to fight him, though. He would feel too bad fighting a good guy. Maybe he could actually try and explain himself—

A loud siren buzzed and buzzed.

"What the fuck?" Louis whisper-shouted as he brought his hands up to his ringing ears.

"The police will get here within minutes," the Black Streak loudly announced. "You've got nowhere to go, mate."

Louis decided to fuck it and make a pure dash against the Black Streak anyway. As he attempted to squeeze past him the Black Streak caught him by the arms. Louis wriggled and got one arm out of his grasp, then flipped over the Black Streak's cape—or scarf, whatever—onto his face, momentarily blinding him to where Louis was as he dashed out of the grip of his other arm.

"Hey!" the Black Streak yelled as he went after Louis, fumbling to get his own scarf out of his face. Louis unfortunately had to scramble for the security chip to get himself out of the bank itself. As he got it out, the Black Streak descended on him and tackled him backwards. Louis struggled as he fought to escape the strong grasp the Black Streak had on his torso.

"Mate, I don't want to hurt you, but you've got to face it—you're out of your league tonight,” the Black Streak told him.

With a free hand, Louis reached into one of his trouser pockets and pulled out a small can of deodorant. He aimed the can at the Black Streak's face and pressed down on the nozzle.

"Oof! What the fu--hey!" the Black Streak coughed as Louis got out to the door.

However, once he got out, he opened the door to police waiting parked on the pavement. He kept running, even as the Black Streak had pushed his way through the door before it closed.

"Oi, this is great! See, I'm here!" the Black Streak cheered. "Now you can help me arrest this guy!"

"Hold it right there!" one of the police officers said as they held a gun pointed at the Black Streak.

"What?" the Black Streak questioned.

"Finally got you where we want you, Black Streak," said another officer that began to advance on him.

Louis took this opening as an opportunity to escape and darted off to the left.

"The burglar is down there!" the Black Streak shouted as he pointed towards where Louis ran.

Louis snuck a glance back to the police that were going to descend on the Black Streak, feeling a bit guilty about leaving the the hero to fend for himself against the cops.

Fucking wankers. Didn't they realize he was on their side?

Louis whistled from where he hid, which distracted the cops long enough for the Black Streak to kick out of their grasp and run after Louis himself.

Louis sped up again, groaning to himself about how he was a shit burglar, but glad that his conscience wasn't compromised. Now the Black Streak and the police were on his tail and the only places he could slip into were through small side streets and alleyways. Still, he couldn't go back to his flat with Liam—not with the Black Streak on his tail. He'd have to outrun him to at least the nearest Tube station.

"Slow... Slow down!" the Black Streak panted.

"You're not really built for stamina are you?" Louis laughed as he ran.

"Oh, sod off!" the Black Streak retorted as he huffed after Louis. Louis nearly chortled at how strange his running style was, arms straight down near his thighs, with a little bounce. Not so epic as he is when he jumps and scales buildings.

Louis giggled and continued to run.

+

  
  


The next morning at work, Zayn was irritable. He wasn't able to catch a thief who escaped from him on foot.He narrowed his eyes and let out a gruff sigh. He wanted to pull out his hair—well, no, he wouldn't do that because he likes his hair too much. But he was still pissed off.

Of course, the bloody police could have helped instead of try to arrest him while they let the actual thief practically skip on by.

Zayn growled to himself again. He was sick of being treated like a bad guy when all he did was help. When were things going to turn up for him?

The bell above the door rang and Zayn lazily held his head up to look. It was the bloke from before, the one who always reads but never buys. Well, Zayn supposed he buys now.

"Good morning," Zayn belatedly told him.

The bloke seemed to show a delayed response and nodded without speech. He looked like Zayn felt: face a sallow colour, dark circles under his eyes, hair tangled and sticking up like he had literally woken up and got out of bed.

Zayn didn't mind. He wasn't sure he'd had enough coffee yet to make words come out of his mouth.

"Hmm, you're never here in the mornings," Zayn mumbled as he rubbed his eye.

"What?" the bloke muttered.

"You're here. In the daytime."

"Oh. Yeah. My flatmate is a morning person and it pissed me off so I had to get out of the place for a bit."

Zayn twitched his mouth into a half smile as he tried to narrow his tired eyes into a warm look.

The bloke yawned, which then made Zayn yawn into his hand as he leant on the counter, feeling grumpy about the prior night again.

"...a bit of an incident last night involving a burglar and the Black Streak..." said the reporter on the TV. Zayn picked up his head, feeling alert. The bloke at the stacks also picked up his head.

They showed footage of the burglar rushing out of the bank, then the Black Streak right after him. Then a struggle between the Black Streak and the cops until the burglar had distracted them. Zayn still wondered about that. He didn't have to do that. He supposed he owed him thanks. But not really, because he's a criminal.

"Fucking wankers, those cops," the blue-eyed bloke muttered. "Instead of going after the bad guy, they went after the good guy. Idiots."

Zayn blinked and tiredly picked up a corner of his mouth. "He didn't catch the bad guy, either, though."

"Well, you can't catch them all." The bloke shrugged his shoulders.

"That burglar's been at it for over a week. Wonder what's so special about him that your boy hasn't been able to get him yet," Zayn muttered a bit bitterly. "I mean, _how_ is he getting into those safes without setting off alarms, anyway?"

"Yeah, I wonder," the bloke said half-heartedly as he turned back to the stacks.

Zayn yawned loudly. "Sorry."

"Rough night?"

"Ehh, you could say that," Zayn groaned.

The bell tinkled again at the door and a mother and two small children came in.

Zayn straightened up and pasted a bright smile on his face. “Hello!” He came out from behind the counter to help the small girl and boy find their first comics.

He glanced up when the bell rang again, and saw the back of the bloke who had been in.

He felt a slight sense of disappointment. He was getting used to having him around to talk to. He kind of liked it.

+

  
  


Tonight was Louis's last hit. It was a Saturday night, and there was a party that fortune heir Vincent Garner was expected to go to. He had been instagraming and tweeting about it to his friends. Like one of the others, Garner didn't have a bank that he frequented, so Louis would target his home, a high rise condo flat.

Garner was the toughest to stalk because he was so vigilant about his privacy and when he wasn't surrounded by security guards, he was followed by paps for his handsome-playboy-celebrity status among the younger generation. It made trying to get close to him hard. Louis did find out where he lived, however, and breaking into his condo would probably be easier than breaking into a bank.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea for you to go do this. You've got enough, right?" Liam was worrying once again as Louis prepared to set out.

"Liam," Louis growled, "This is about making a statement. And he's the only one left. I've got to finish this job!"

"No one's forcing you to do this or make amends. Your mum doesn't even know you're doing this—and well, it's a good thing she doesn't know, because frankly—"

"Liam, shut up," Louis told him with a glare. He put on his mask. "I've had it with your worrywart mouth! How many times have you told me 'this isn't a good idea Louis' and yet nothing bad has happened to me?"

Liam pursed his lips and sucked at his cheek. "The Black Streak showed up last time. He might show up this time."

"Yeah, he showed up and I outran him. I told you he wouldn't hurt me."

Liam sighed. "You promise this is the last time?"

Louis narrowed his eyes. "You act like I'm obligated to give you promises."

Liam flattened his eyes.

Louis groaned. "Ugh, yes, Liam! I don't have any further burglaries planned yet. You happy now?"

"I'll be happy when you get back in one piece," Liam said with his arms crossed, his brow stern.

"Remember that you had a hand in this," Louis told him as he went to the door. "You're just as guilty as me..." Louis said in a sing-song voice, which left Liam looking appalled, like he wanted.

Louis wasn't really grumpy with Liam. He was on-edge. And Liam's worrying only made him feel more nervy. He took in a deep breath as he walked down the corridor, then made his way to Garner's place.

It took a small distraction to get himself past the security that guarded the outer doors of the complex, and he was able to buzz himself through after having swiped a key off of another resident several days ago. He'd make sure to deposit the key back soon under their door after this was done.

After going up to Garner's flat and breaking in, he discovered the posh condo was empty. Louis didn't have much of an idea where Garner would keep his valuables, but he figured the bedroom was as safe a bet as any. He searched his drawers, underneath his bed, and rummaged in the closet until he found a secret compartment button tucked in the back wall. It opened up into another small chamber within the closet, where it looked like Garner stored his most expensive watches, jewellery, and money.

As soon as he was about to enter the closet, he heard a click.

"Knew you'd be coming here tonight." Garner was standing at the other end of his room, a silver pistol raised and aimed at Louis.

Louis immediately raised his arms up. Fuck, he never had a gun pulled on him before.

“Get out of there,” Garner growled. Louis did as told, Garner backing up as Louis came closer.

"Ey, mate, I've taken nothing. So I think I'll just be on me way and I'll never get in your hair again."

"Not so fast," Garner sneered. "You're the same thief who stole from some of my friends, aren't you?"

"Yeah, so what if I am? Not like I made much of a dent in your fortunes, have I?" Louis chortled.

"You've done a bit more than that, boy. You're meddling in shit that you know nothing about. Shit that's going to get you killed." Garner closed the gap between himself and Louis, and Louis had no choice but to stay where he was. He didn't know how good or bad this guy could be with a gun.

"Come on... are you really going to kill me for some of your friends' pocket change?" Louis was sweating now, his heart racing.

"It's not the money, you twat! Where's the necklace?" Garner sneered.

Louis creased his brow. "Necklace?"

"Don't play fucking dumb! It's missing. Where is it?"

"Don't know what you're talking about,” Louis lied.

The man advanced on him, the gun aimed at his head. "I'm only going to ask you one more time. Where is the necklace?"

"I don't have it!" Louis snapped.

"Oi, Vince! What the fuck are you doin'!" another man said as he came into the room.

"This is the bloody thief!" Garner said without taking his eyes from Louis. "I was about to execute him, seeing as he's not willing to talk!"

"Oi, you idiot, you can't kill him!"

Louis pressed back into the corner as he watched the exchange between Garner and this new guy.

"Why the fuck not?" Garner growled as he tightened his grip on the pistol.

The other guy loudly groaned. "Because, you moron, he was the last person to have the necklace! He's the only person who knows where it is!"

"Well, he says he doesn't know where it is!"

"He's fucking lying! Surveillance got him on tape!"

"Is that true?" Garner's face grew red.

Louis sheepishly shrugged as he nervously laughed. His heart was in his throat. "...I mean, I picked up a lot of stuff that night. A necklace might have slipped in there."

Garner lunged forward and stuck the barrel of the gun into Louis's clavicle. Louis grunted at the pain. "Where the fuck is it!?"

"Easy, Vince! Jesus Christ..." the other man muttered.

"Well, how else are we going to get this rat to talk?!"

"Well, not by killing him, obviously! Torture him. You know, traditional shit."

Garner aka "Vince" sighed and grumbled, "Fine. But you take care of that."

"Sure," the other man said as he walked up to Louis.

"Don't even try to escape. I'll put a bullet in your skull," Garner threatened as he backed up.

"Oi, what the fuck do you think you're going to do to me?" Louis shouted.

The big guy immediately threw a fist into Louis's face and Louis knocked backwards into the wall, losing his balance. He winced in pain, feeling cold and hot in his cheek at the same time.

"Jesus, fuck," Garner groaned. "You have to hit him that hard?"

"You were the one waving that gun in his face, and you have the audacity to call me out on punching him like a civilised person?" the bigger guy muttered.

Garner shrugged and pursed his lips.

"Where's the necklace?" the big guy asked.

Louis wondered if he should just tell him, or if they would just kill him once he told them. It seemed better to keep his mouth shut.

"Where is it?" The guy punched Louis again, and Louis audibly gasped at this one.

"You're gonna proper break his face if you keep doing that mate," Garner winced.

"This rat's gonna talk. I don't care if it takes me hours," the big guy said.

 _Fuck_ , Louis thought. _I'm going to fucking die here..._

At that second, it sounded like a glass shattered in the next room.

"Oh, what the fuck now?" Garner groaned. "Bobby, go check what's in the next room."

The big man left Louis's side and then another crash came through the glass of this room. Before Garner knew what hit him and before Louis could make sense of what he was seeing, a black blur moved across the floor and Garner was taken down, gun knocked out of his hands.

The Black Streak leaped up off of Garner and sprinted over to Louis.

"Come on!" he urged as he grabbed him by the hand.

Louis was speechless and had no choice but to listen to his saviour.

+

  
  


Zayn was lucky he got here on time. It took a bit of extra time to get here from the outside, but that was to make sure he had the biggest element of stealth. Once he saw what went on with the botched robbery attempt, however, he had no choice but to intervene. The thief was a criminal, yes, but he didn't deserve to be killed for it—and this looked too suspicious to just be self-defense. Especially when one guy had a gun and the other was beating the crap out of the thief.

There was only one way to get out of there without being followed or seen. Zayn ran across the room and leaped up to the window where he entered. He turned around and extended an arm for the thief.

"Come on!" he called out.

"What? You want me to fucking jump?" the thief squeaked.

"Do you want to live or not?" Zayn growled. It was only a matter of time before Garner came to or his accomplice would reach them both.

The thief frantically looked back, then grumbled, "Of course I do!" He lunged and caught Zayn's hand. Then Zayn hoisted him up onto the ledge.

"Oh, fuck!" the thief wailed as he shuddered and clung to Zayn's arm. He was looking down, eighteen stories off the ground, the streetlights and cars minuscule from here.

"Follow me," Zayn said as he gently patted his arm. "Stay close to the inside. And no matter what you do, just stay calm."

At that moment, the glass broke again and gunshots went off. Zayn quickly walked along the edge of the building, hoping the thief could keep up—since he had no choice but to follow or be shot. Zayn was all right with heights as long as he didn't look down, but he wondered how this guy was.

"Stay calm? Stay calm?!" the thief cried. "Those two arseholes in there just tried to fucking kill me! Well, I mean first they were going to do other stuff to me, and now they're fucking shooting at us—Oh, and we're up nearly twenty stories on the edge of a building and we're like fucking cats walking on the edge and—"

"Do you ever shut up?" Zayn muttered without turning back. "We have to get across to the other side of the building. I can make the jump. But I need to make sure you're safe."

The thief looked down at the upcoming gap between the two halves of the condominium. The building dipped in a geometric pattern, leaving about ten feet between the ledges. "Oh, fuck this!"

Zayn pursed his lips, trying to be patient. He glanced backward, noting that the two men had followed on the ledge. "Those other guys are gaining on us! If we don't jump now, we're screwed!"

The thief gulped. "All right. What's your plan?"

"My scarf... it helps you stay afloat in the air a bit longer than normal. I'll toss it back to you,” Zayn offered.

“And then I jump with it?” the thief asked.

“Yeah,” Zayn nodded. “Here I go!” He took a few steps to push off the ground and soared through the air, landing gracefully as his scarf stayed up, a bit like a parachute.

"Shit!" the thief hissed out. He looked back as bullets landed only a few feet away from him on the wall.

Zayn began to unclasp his scarf. “Don't worry, mate. I'll throw my scarf over to you, then—Hey, wait!"

Zayn blinked in horror as he saw him jump, but once the thief landed and scrambled on the ledge, he smiled up at him.

"Shit, you made it!" Zayn breathed out.

"Yeah," the thief remarked as he dusted himself off.

"You could have fallen down over a hundred feet. Are you mental?" Zayn laughed.

"Hey! There they are!" Garner and his thug friend continued to shoot at them, but refused to jump.

"Let's keep moving!" Zayn said as he patted the thief on the arm. He nodded and they continued to scale the building all the way to the other edge. For now, they lost them.

“So how do we get down?” the thief asked. “Are we going to break into someone else's condo?”

Zayn looked past the edge of the building towards a slightly smaller one next to it. “Not exactly.” He looked to the thief. “Do you trust me?”

“What?” The thief narrowed his eyes.

Zayn unclasped his scarf and unfolded it to its full length. “This is a special scarf. Well, it's not exactly a scarf. It's a sort of parachute.”

“A parachute?” the thief sputtered.

“That's why I'm always able to jump off things so easily. In theory, I can do what the bloke in Assassin's Creed does.”

“Assassin's Creed... you mean we're going to jump off this fucking building? And in theory?!” the thief said with a skeptical tone.

Zayn awkwardly tilted his head. He'd done some successful practice runs with the scarf when he went up to some mountains in Wales with Niall a couple months ago, but nothing from this height. “That's why I ask again... do you trust me?”

The thief stared at him, his mouth growing taught, looking a bit pale. “Well, it's either risk dying with you or risk dying at the hands of those crazy blokes, right?” He nodded. “All right. I trust you.”

“All right, I'm going to need you to hold this end,” Zayn said as he handed him the farthest clasp on the right. “And hold on tight.” Zayn grabbed the opposite clasp with his left hand, then brought an arm around the thief's waist and gripped him tight.

“Hey, getting handsy on me, Black Streak!”

“It's necessary,” Zayn said with a gulp. “I'm going to need you to run with me and we have to jump at the same time, all right?”

The thief nodded. “Yeah. All right.”

Zayn nodded. “So on the count of three, we run and jump right before we reach the edge.”

“Yeah. Okay,” the thief said in a higher pitch.

Zayn smiled. “We got this. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“One, two... three!”

Zayn and the thief ran side by side, going at the exact same speed, stepping down on the same foot, and when the leap came, they both soared at the same time. Zayn held him tight and the thief held him tight right back with his arm pressed around Zayn's waist. The scarf indeed picked up wind and they floated down gracefully across the gap between the two buildings.

“Aha!” the thief giggled as he turned to Zayn. Zayn grinned back at him, feeling butterflies in his chest from the fall.

The landing on the neighbouring rooftop wasn't as smooth and they stumbled a bit, but they made it unharmed.

“We should be safe now,” Zayn exhaled as they both caught their breaths on the roof.

The thief was still clinging onto Zayn's waist when he cleared his throat. Then he backed up and patted Zayn's arms.

“Thanks for that,” the thief said as he smiled at him.

Zayn shortly nodded. “Yeah, no problem.” He picked up his scarf, then re-clasped it to his outfit and twirled it back into form over his shoulder with ease.

The thief grinned, showing his teeth. “You really are a proper superhero, aren't ya?”

“Yeah, guess I am,” Zayn modestly admitted. “Thanks for your help, too. And for the other day, when the coppers were after me.” Zayn stretched out a hand for the thief to shake.

“Yeah, no problem, mate,” the thief said as he grabbed his hand.

Zayn held his hand tight, then pulled cuffs from his left sleeve onto the bloke's wrist and clicked it into place.

The thief shot his eyes up to Zayn as he pulled his hand away. “What the—”

“Finally caught you,” Zayn said as he held the other end of the cuffs. It was a bit dirty of him, but he needed to keep this bloke off the streets now more than ever.

“What the fuck? You just—you just saved me!” The thief attempted to push himself away.

“Yeah, it doesn't make you any less of a criminal!” Zayn argued as he pulled him close by his wrist.

The thief narrowed his eyes, which Zayn just noticed were blue. “But... those guys are the ones you should be locking up! They're the crazy torture and murder enthusiasts!”

Zayn swallowed. “I know they're bad too, but—“

“You're no better than the police!" the thief spat out.

Zayn sputtered, “It—it's not my fault you got mixed up with the wrong guys! And I'll take care of them after I take care of you.”

"Well, you at least don't have to be so rough," the thief muttered as he struggled against Zayn's hold.

"Sorry," Zayn apologized, softening his grip a bit.

"Where'd you get those from anyway? You're not pals with the coppers..."

"It doesn't matter where I got them from,” Zayn grumbled.

"You know, I really can't understand you with that scarf on,” the thief chattered on. “It always sounds like you're mumbling!"

Zayn growled and lifted up a hand to pull down his scarf and expose his jaw.

"Can you hear me now?!" he shouted into the thief's face.

The thief smiled at him, revealing some pointy canines. "Has anyone ever told you how sexy you are when you get angry? Such pretty eyes... and an even prettier mouth."

Zayn's eyebrows relaxed as he blinked. "What?"

The thief was pressed close to Zayn, his hands on his chest and his eyes flicking between Zayn's eyes and lips. Still aware of the fact that they were on the edge of a roof, Zayn had no choice but to grab onto his arms as the thief leaned forward and closed the distance between them, planting his lips on Zayn's. Zayn stood still as the thief pressed gently at first, then more aggressively as he ground his mouth against Zayn's lips, slightly burning them and forcing a low groan out of Zayn. The thief gently tugged at Zayn's bottom lip with his teeth before he pushed off his chest and whipped around.

"Catch me if you can!"

Zayn looked down at his hands that were holding empty cuffs. Then he looked back up to see the thief's back as he ran away. He had used the kiss as a distraction!

Zayn was so stunned he could only hold his mouth open, but it shortly turned into a grin as he brought a hand up to his lips. He knew he should be annoyed, but a part of him admired that thief's style. It was a classic trick. And a good kiss.

Zayn cleared his throat and remembered that he should probably go after him.

+

  
  


Louis got back to his flat by 2am. He slammed the door, then leaned against it, ripping off his mask while he heaved out a sigh. He brought his fingers up to his lips, still tingling as if that kiss between him and the Black Streak was literally electric.

"You're back."

"Ah!" Louis squeaked, realising he wasn't alone in the room. He raised his eyes to a stressed-looking Liam sitting on the couch.

"Please tell me this is the last time you do anything like this," Liam sighed, his eyes looking sadder and more puppy-like than ever.

"I'm done," Louis sighed as he tried to breathe and get his heart rate back to normal.

Liam's eyes widened. "What—Really?"

Louis raised an eyebrow. "These guys tonight... they were fucking crazy. Pulled guns on me and everything."

Liam gasped as he stood up to look over Louis. "Are you all right?"

Louis looked away and inhaled deeply.

“Oh my god—Lou, your face!” Liam hovered over Louis now and gently took a hold of his chin to examine what were apparently bruises from the hits Louis had received earlier. Liam's brow was furrowed and his eyes did that shiny, intense puppy dog thing they always did when Liam felt gutted over something. “Who did this to you?!”

Louis could feel the soreness in his cheek again, but he had no idea what it looked like. Liam gently pressed a finger to the bruise.

“Ow!” Louis let out as he jerked away, though Liam still had his chin in his hand.

Liam swallowed and sharply exhaled as if he were the one in pain. “I should have gone with you.”

Louis breathed out a laugh. “And done what, Liam? You're not the burglar type!”

Liam swallowed. “But I could at least have been there to make sure you didn't get hurt!”

Louis gently smiled at Liam as he brought a hand to his wrist to take his hand off his chin. "I'm good now, Payno. And the Black Streak was there. He kind of saved me, actually. Don't know what I would have done if he hadn't shown up...”

“I'm glad he did,” Liam sighed as he put an arm around Louis's shoulder. He walked Louis over to the couch, where Louis sat down without a fuss.

He pulled his knees up and rested his chin on them. "Anyway, I don't want any more trouble. I got enough revenge."

"So it's over?" Liam asked as he returned with a gel ice pack.

"They don't know who I am, Liam. They didn't see my face. And they'll have no way of knowing who stole from them. I'm safe as a kitten."

"You sure about that?"

"Liam, what are they going to do?" Louis groaned as he took the ice pack, then gently brought it to his cheek.

"I don't know—if they have like traces of your DNA, like hair... can't they identify you like that?" Liam asked as he sat down next to Louis.

"That's what the mask and gloves were for, remember?"

"Yeah, but—"

"And besides, the Black Streak said he'd take care of those guys after he took care of me. Which... well, I guess he hasn't yet. But he doesn't know who I am, either! There's no way he can find me. There's no way anyone is going to find me."

Liam gave Louis a warm gaze as he gently rubbed Louis's back. "You're right. It's over."

Louis sighed, letting himself lean into Liam's arm. " _You_ were right. I never should have done this."

Liam shook his head. "You were sticking it to those guys, letting them know that it doesn't feel nice to get their money taken from them."

"They're still rich,” Louis muttered.

"At least you got to meet the Black Streak. Twice now," Liam cheerfully told him.

Louis warmed at the thought. "Liam, he's a real hero. He's every bit as cool as I thought he would be. More so." He cleared his throat. "He saved me, even though I was a criminal. Of course, he was going to arrest me but... he wasn't mean about it."

"He's a good bloke," Liam conceded.

Louis felt a bit guilty now that he had ditched him and that he was going to be mixed up with those thugs that were after both of them. But that's what heroes deal with, right?

"You should get to bed. You look exhausted,” Liam remarked.

Louis nodded wordlessly. "Yeah... S'pose I should.”

“Goodnight, Robin Hood,” Liam said as he squeezed at Louis's shoulder.

Louis smiled at him, said goodnight, then nearly dropped into his bed. But before he went to sleep, he pulled out the drawer of his bedside table and picked up the jewelled necklace he stole earlier in the week.

“What the hell are you?” he asked aloud as he scrutinized the thing with a glare.

+

  
  


It was quite a change for Louis not to plan anymore heists, to finally have the nights free to do... well, nothing. The next few days of his life were full of eight-hour shifts on the phone lines at the auto insurance company he worked at and the occasional comic shop visit. Nothing else except TV and playing video games at home with Liam.

He was at the comic shop the Wednesday night after he retired from thieving. Even comics began to feel numb to him, as they no longer matched up to the adventures that his real life brought him. He lazily read through one issue and planted it down without grace, getting the corners of the pages folded up.

"You all right, mate?” that good-looking cashier asked, his brow bent into a concerned, yet kind, expression. At least he hadn't lost any of his charm to Louis yet.

"Yeah, I'm fine,” Louis answered, the ghost of a grin on his face.

“Long day?” the cashier asked.

“Long week,” Louis muttered as he rubbed at his eye.

The cashier softly laughed. “I can relate.”

Louis turned to face him. "You know, they should make comics about the Black Streak. See what he's like when he's not fighting crime. Like, the bloke's always out saving the day and getting criminals the cops can't, but he must be a real person with a real job too, right? He must be tired all the time... Well, I'd be tired all the time if I did that almost every night."

The cashier smiled. "He's probably got superpowers that help him. Probably doesn't need to sleep. That's why he's always out there. Got nothin' better to do."

"I could use that superpower..." Louis put a palm over his mouth as he yawned.

"Couldn't we all?" The cashier's mouth slowly opened into a yawn.

Louis cracked a laugh, and the cashier ducked his head as a sheepish smile formed on his mouth.

"Sorry 'bout that."

“S'all good,” Louis told him with a smirk.

“You didn't find anything you liked tonight?” the cashier asked.

“Just the company,” Louis replied, feeling his cheeks warm as soon as he finished saying it.

The cashier grinned as he crossed his arms and glanced down. "I like the company as well.”

Louis cleared his throat and awkwardly looked away. “Well, I guess I'll get going. Before I drop dead, you know.”

The cashier nodded. “Have a good night, mate. Get some rest."

Louis smiled at the cashier. "Thanks. You, too."

+

  
  


That night, Louis stayed in while Liam went on a date with his girlfriend, Sophia. It was funny to be the one seeing him off at the door this time. Liam deserved a night off from worrying, though, and he was so excited.

Hours after he had fallen asleep, Louis woke up to the sound of his phone buzzing along the floor. He blinked open his eyes. It was still dark in his room.

He rubbed his eyes and bent over the side of his bed to look at his glowing phone. After squinting, he saw that it was Jay calling.

He lunged for the phone and clumsily swiped to answer. “Mum?” he asked in a creaky voice.

“Louis! Thank goodness. Sorry for waking you up, love.”

“Mum—what's going on? Are the girls okay? The babies—”

“They're okay...” There was an uncomfortable pause that made Louis's stomach lurch. “There are these men that have been waiting outside. Earlier, they came to the door pounding on it so hard. They were going around the block door-to-door asking if we had any information on someone that's been stealing from them. I have no idea what they were talking about!”

Louis swallowed.

“Obviously I told them I knew nothing because I don't, but they've been sitting outside in their car across the street since then. It scared the kids. I tried to call the police, but...”

“They didn't fucking care?” Louis muttered.

Jay sighed. “It wasn't enough to warrant a visit.”

“Fucking Christ,” Louis hissed. “I'll be over as soon as I can.”

“Please be careful, Louis. I am so sorry to ask this of you, but Dan's away right now and I think it would make the girls feel better if you were here. They can't sleep.”

Louis grabbed a pair of jeans in the dark and slipped into them, then grabbed his hoodie from his desk chair. Before he went out, he thought of bringing his mask. He wanted to bring the fight to those thugs before they could get to his family again. He stuffed the mask in his pocket, then gingerly walked through the flat, as to not wake up Liam. He quietly closed the door behind him and breathed out sharply. So much for a good night's sleep.

Louis's family had been relocated once their complex got scheduled for destruction to have a shopping centre built in its place. They were hardly given notice, with nowhere to go. They were in London in the first place because Louis's mum wanted to support his dream of making a singing and acting career. He'd landed an audition at X-Factor but didn't make it past bootcamp. Shortly after, he got invited to be the lead singer of a band in London, but that ended up going south, too.

Not before he'd committed to move to London and his mum said there was no way he was going to be on his own in the city. So she came with, especially since the divorce with Louis's stepfather, Mark, had been so recent. Five years later, though, their family was as happy as ever and his mum got remarried and gave birth to twins.

Meanwhile, Louis had been in a 'transition' phase for a couple years now, hoping to get a real career going, but time went by so fast that all he usually had energy for was focusing on his regular “proper” job as a customer service representative at an auto insurance company. It was all right, he supposed, though he mostly had the job to pay the bills and was bored of it. Of course, once he figured out who was responsible for his family's forced relocation, his passions got reignited—in the form of vengeance.

Being basically left homeless, his family had no choice but to move to a tiny flat in a part of the city that wasn't that safe. It was the only affordable place they could find within such short notice. So Louis constantly worried and worked even harder to save up for a better place for them. The only thing that kept him from keeping the money he stole was the fact that his mum would never want stolen money. She was such an honest, hard worker and Louis couldn't do that without her knowing. And she was never going to know about what he'd got into, for her own sake.

As Jay described, there was a BMW waiting across the street from her flat when Louis arrived. He skulked through the dark towards the car, but as soon as Louis saw the flat, he forgot about wanting revenge. Instead, he focused on the more pressing need to be home to take care of his family.

He walked up to the flat whilst keeping peripheral vision on the car. He called Jay on the phone so as not to scare her with his arrival, and she immediately opened up the door and ushered him into a hug. Louis closed the door behind him in her embrace.

“Lou, I'm so glad you're here,” Jay whispered as she pressed a kiss to his hair.

Louis hugged her back and cupped her face. “Of course I'm here. Where are the girls?”

“Louis!” Phoebe was the one who cried out and ran up to him, with Daisy and Fizzy in tow. Lottie hovered behind them and smiled at her older brother.

Louis picked up Phoebe and hugged her to his chest. “Oi, you girls are up way past your bedtime! Don't you have school in the morning?”

Louis stayed with the girls in the living room and they watched a film until they fell asleep. Afterwards, he met his mum in the kitchen to discuss all the trouble.

“Those men, do you know anything else about them?” Louis whispered.

Jay shook her head. “Only that someone we knew at the old complex might be responsible. I suppose they're the people who work for the company. But... still doesn't sit well with me. The way they were acting...”

“Like thugs,” Louis muttered. “And they're terrorizing innocent people in order to get their money back.”

Jay sighed. “I mean, we don't know anything for sure.”

Louis swallowed.

“How have you been, sunshine?” Jay asked with a smile as she reached across the table and caressed Louis's hand with her own. “I feel like I haven't seen you in so long.”

Louis relaxed his tensed shoulders and smiled at her. “I'm good, Mum. Sorry I haven't been around as much.”

“You met somebody?” Jay asked, coy smile on her lips.

Louis scrunched his mouth. “Mum...”

“Sorry. Guess you're still embarrassed about those kind of questions,” Jay laughed.

“And the answer is no. Well, not really.” Louis thought back to a few nights before, how he had kissed the Black Streak.

“That's all right. You'll find them soon. I have a feeling.” Jay grinned. “Stay over. There's still room for you. We'll have tea and breakfast in the morning, what do you say?”

“Sure. Get some sleep, Mum.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

“Don't you know? Mums don't need sleep. That ability comes with the babies,” she winked up at him.

“Please get some sleep,” Louis pleaded.

“I will,” Jay said as she gently cupped his face. “Goodnight, love.”

“Goodnight. I love you,” Louis told her with a hug.

+

  
  


Though tempted to sneak out whilst everyone was sleeping to go give those blokes a piece of his mind, Louis stayed until the next morning for breakfast and took the younger girls to school. Revenge would come later that night.

He had gone back to his and Liam's flat to get his full black outfit on, mask and all, to go after those guys. Liam was stuck at work late at the radio station, so he wouldn't even have a chance to get angry or worried at Louis. Though the truth was that Louis did feel a bit guilty about it, especially after he said he was done. This is just one more thing he has to take care of.

He didn't know what he planned to do to get even, but he really just wanted to finally punch someone for all the shit they put his family through.

That night, the same BMW was parked on their street, though farther away from their flat this time. Louis walked around from the shadows to approach the car from behind. It was turned off and the same two blokes were inside. With brick in hand, he sped up his pace and launched his arm behind his head. The brick flew straight into the middle of the windshield and shattered the glass, creating a ripple of cracks around the center of impact. The brick didn't go through the windshield but it shook up the blokes in the car enough that they screamed and the one in the driver seat got out of the car.

“Oi, what the fuck!” He was a rather large guy with big shoulders and over six feet, but that didn't matter to Louis, who sprinted up and launched a fist into the guy's jaw.

“You think it's fun to go around stalking and scaring innocent people?” Louis sneered before he sent another punch to the man's gut. His body was hot with the throb of his heart beat, the built up anger in all his muscles finally being let free. Right now, he couldn't tell if he was acting more like a bad guy than a good guy. But it didn't matter. It was his family they messed with.

Louis heard the other door open and the second guy, who was shorter and had a shaved head, pointed a gun at him. “Don't be a fuckin' idiot, mate,” he warned.

Louis had made the mistake of looking away from the first guy for a few seconds, leaving the burly one enough time to grab him by the neck and thrust him headfirst into the window.

Louis slid down, knocked unconscious by the impact.

+

  
  


Louis woke up with a throb on his left temple as he weakly opened up his eyes. He saw nothing but a light above him and what looked like an empty room made of concrete. It was dark and the floor looked a bit damp, and there was the faint smell of rotten fish...or sewer. It made Louis wrinkle up his nose.

He finally registered that he was seated in a steel-legged chair with his arms bound behind him and his ankles bound to the legs of the chair, trapping him against the seat. His gloves had been taken off and his sleeves were pushed right above where rope was bound—he knew it by the burn he felt on his wrists. His ankles were the same, his boots removed and his trousers folded up.

“Shit,” Louis muttered to himself. He was a fucking idiot just running into that situation with no actual plan. And now, who knows where the fuck he is... God.... and no one even knows he's here! Louis's heart began to race. He never told Liam what he was planning. Liam wouldn't know where he was. What if he doesn't get out of this alive?

Louis flexed his arms behind him, attempting to loosen the grip of the rope on his wrists as he strained his fingers to reach the ties. But before he could do much, a door from the side of the room opened. Louis froze as Garner entered the room, with his same thug friend from before, the two who were in the BMW, and two more guys. This was a bit much, wasn't it?

“Oi, he's awake!” Garner grinned and clapped his hands. Just behind the last two thugs came in a nervous-looking Von Dellen, who was dressed in a suit and peacoat.

“I... I don't feel right about this,” Von Dellen quietly told Garner.

“Oh, grow a pair, James! This bloke's the reason you and I are in fucking hot water right now. He stole from you the only insurance you had against...” Garner stopped as he looked at Louis. “Well... we'll talk about that later. For now, let's focus on this rat.”

“You fell right into the trap. Idiot,” Garner told him.

“What trap?” Louis muttered.

“Well, we knew whoever had a personal vendetta against the five of us they attempted to steal from was probably someone from that old neighborhood we had torn down. So we had Truman and Roberts give everyone a little scare, once we figured out where they all relocated, that is. And sure as we figured, our little thief couldn't handle that on their conscience, now could he?”

Louis glared up at Garner.

“Tell us where the necklace is and we'll let you go. Refuse, and we'll have to go back where we left off and start torturing ya.”

“How do I know that even if I told you where it is... you'd leave me alone?” Louis sneered.

“You don't,” Garner said as he crossed his arms.

“Then I'm not talking,” Louis defiantly responded.

“You heard him, boys,” Garner said. That big guy Bobby and one of the other thugs descended on Louis.

“Well, hold on...” Garner interjected. “I want to see the face of the troublemaker before we torture him.”

As much as Louis could resist, he couldn't stop the big guy Bobby from ripping off his mask and throwing it to the ground. “Oi, he's just a lad...”

Louis swallowed.

“Vincent, this isn't right. We can't possibly beat up a kid,” Von Dellen protested. “Lad, just tell us where the necklace is. We'll let you go.”

“What's so special about this necklace?” Louis grunted. “Aren't you rich bastards drowning in enough luxury?”

“It's not about the money or the value, lad, it's—”

“Shut up, James!” Garner interrupted. He rubbed at his eyes with a sigh. “Why the fuck am I the one responsible for your dumb arse?”

“Should we take him to the toilet?” Bobby asked.

“Yeah, sure. Undo his legs,” Garner ordered.

That big guy Bobby took a knife and cut the ropes on Louis's ankles, then hoisted him up off the chair, straining his arms as they were stuck behind him. Louis was led with a push from behind as the big bloke he punched earlier led the way to a grimy corridor out of the room into a loo that was just as grimy. There was just one dirty toilet in there and dead bugs lined the ground all over. The water at least looked clean, but still...

“Oh, god... why,” Louis groaned.

“You gonna talk?” Garner asked as he kicked up the seat of the toilet.

Louis swallowed.

“I don't know about this...” that bloke Bobby said in a low voice. “I mean, now that I know what the lad looks like... I feel bad.”

“Oh, all of you are useless!” Garner got behind Louis and pressed his foot at the back of his knees, so Louis had no choice but to kneel down in front of the toilet. “You know what's coming, don't you? Now, there are far worse ways to be tortured, boy. But I can't say I'd like to drown in a toilet, either. Now... tell us where the necklace is.”

Louis was about to come up with something to say when someone knocked loudly on the door.

“What?!” Garner grumbled.

Louis strained his neck to look back past Garner. The one called Truman had a pistol in hand as he went up to the door and carefully opened it. He was answered with a punch to the face as someone burst in, clad in all black. Garner dropped Louis down against the toilet face-first to defend himself. Amid the scuffle, Louis was able to slip a thumb, and gradually the rest of the fingers from one hand out of the binding. Once free, he placed his hands on the ground as he stood up.

He internally thanked himself for being such a fucking comic book nerd and buying that _Batman Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual_ that taught him how to do things like break out of cuffs and rope binds—things he thought he'd never have to actually use in his life until two weeks ago.

“Are you all right?” Louis recognized the Black Streak's voice as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Louis brought a hand over his face and didn't turn around.

“I'm good!” he hastily replied.

“...It's alright. I get it,” the Black Streak replied. “Can't show me your face...”

Louis silently nodded.

“Well, we gotta go, mate,” The Black Streak said as he snatched Louis with him back down the corridor. He didn't look at him, however.

The other blokes were writhing on the floor, all dispatched by the Black Streak, but it wouldn't last long.

“Those your shoes?”

Louis opened up a space between the fingers on his face so he could look and indeed saw his boots and mask. He slipped on the mask first, then picked up the boots and slipped those on clumsily, nearly knocking over—until the Black Streak caught him by the arm and steadied him.

“Thanks,” Louis shyly told him.

The Black Streak silently nodded at him.

A door slammed, which caused the both of them to turn their heads.

“We gotta run!” the Black Streak said as he pulled Louis with him.

+

  
  


Zayn had been staked outside of Garner's condo for three hours until the man left the building at 1am. Zayn followed on his bike all the way down to the river docks near the north end of the Thames. Good thing he sensed that something suspicious was up, otherwise who knows what would have happened to this thief.

He ran with the bloke in tow up the exit staircase as they were pursued with gunshots barely missing them. They got out to the side, which only led to a dock as an exit. They climbed up another staircase to get onto the roof and Zayn ran forward to see where they could go from the there. Straight down, there was a dumpster. And it was only about thirty feet up from the ground.

“We have to jump,” Zayn hushed out.

“Again?!” the thief lamented.

Zayn whipped his head after he heard a door thrust open behind him. “Trust me!”

He wrapped both arms around the thief and jumped, but not before he heard a gunshot go off and he felt something sear his side. He grunted as they both glided down with the aid of his scarf. They landed in a heap of rubbish, but thankfully everything was in bags. The thief was sprawled under him, struggling to climb out.

More gunshots let off from the top of the roof and Zayn curled in on himself to shield his body.

“Come on!” yelled the thief as Zayn felt his arm get grabbed and he was pulled out of the dumpster.

Zayn's breath caught and he gasped at the pain as he tried to climb out himself.

“Are you alright?” the thief said, frantic.

“I'm good... We gotta keep going!” Zayn gasped. As he and the thief ran, he felt his side burn and throb. Soon, he got tired and began to cough as he dragged his legs to try and keep up with the thief.

“Hey!” the thief protested as he stopped and turned to Zayn, who was wheezing now.

“I'm just shit at running, mate,” Zayn said with a dismissive wave.

The thief held a considerate gaze on him. “That's not it, is it... “ He glanced his eyes down to where Zayn had a palm above his hip. “You're hurt,” the thief said as he glanced back to Zayn's face, his mouth and eyes betraying concern.

Zayn shook his head. “It's nothing. Just a scratch.”

“Is a scratch supposed to bleed that much?” the thief asked as he went forward. Zayn ducked away, keeping his hand over the wound.

“I'll be fine.”

“You need to go to the hospital!” the thief cried out.

“No! Absolutely not,” Zayn said with a shake of his head.

“What? Why not? You're fucking bleeding! That's a gunshot isn't it?”

Zayn swallowed. “The police want to arrest me... and if I go into a hospital and they uncover my mask or my identity, then that's one step away from the police finding out.”

The thief seemed to swallow at that. “Then... what do we do?'

“I'll go home and I'll patch it up myself,” Zayn said, furrowing his brow in determination as he walked on.

“No offense, but at that rate, you won't get back to your place by morning,” the thief remarked with a scoff.

“I'll be good... Just got to reach my bike,” Zayn breathed out. “There she is...” he said as he clicked the ignition switch in his pocket. His bike was stowed away in the next alley.

“You can't bloody drive like that!” the thief cried out as he put himself in front of Zayn again.

“I'm not leaving my bike here,” Zayn growled.

“Then I'll ride it back.”

Zayn scoffed.

“Look, I'm just trying to help you mate!” the thief said, his face growing red, his jaw growing taut. “You can ride your bike—but I'm taking you home. To my home.”

“What?”

The thief narrowed his eyes. “What else are we going to do? You can't get anywhere on your own and you don't want to go to the hospital! And... it's a better option than me finding out where you live and whatnot...”

Zayn creased his brow. This was interesting. The thief actually cared about Zayn's considerations... and he was willing to take him back to _his_ place...

“Okay.”

+

  
  


Louis was so happy that Liam had stayed over at Sophia's that night. He sat on the back of the Black Streak's bike and led him towards his and Liam's flat. Then Louis shouldered the Black Streak with an arm around him and helped him limp across his flat over to his bedroom. Once inside, he gently lowered the Black Streak onto his bed, though he grunted and shuddered in pain.

“I'm in your bedroom?” the Black Streak gasped out as he looked up and pulled his scarf away from his face.

“Well I can't put you on the couch,” Louis answered. “You'll bleed all over the place!”

“You don't care if I bleed on your bed?” the Black Streak quietly, though judgmentally, asked.

“No! Now... take off your clothes,” Louis grumbled.

The Black Streak hesitated and looked up at Louis with a skeptical glance.

“You know what I mean!” Louis growled as he looked to the side, embarrassed.

Louis went forward and helped remove the Black Streak's scarf for him, since it was hurting him to stretch upward. Louis was about to remove his gloves next when the Black Streak caught his hand firmly. “Don't.”

“Are you ridiculous?”

“Just the shirt then...” the Black Streak said with a gulp.

Louis narrowed his eyes. “You know, you're making this a lot more difficult than it has to be.”

The Black Streak looked down, swallowing.

Louis was frustrated. If he had never been a thief, if he had just met the Black Streak before all of this mess he got himself in... would he be this hesitant to trust him?

Louis exhaled and sat down to be level with the Black Streak's eyes. “Look, I might be a thief, but... I'm not a bad guy. And you got hurt because you saved me. And I just want to do the right thing and... please! Just let me just help you.”

Louis pulled up at his own mask and ripped it off, making his hair a more tangled mess than usual. He tentatively met eyes with the Black Streak as he attempted to smooth down his hair. "Will you trust me now?" 

The Black Streak simply stared at him with his jaw dropped for a few seconds. "Okay," he finally said in a shaky voice.

Louis peeled open the Black Streak's jacket and carefully folded up the black shirt he had on under so that it didn't catch on his wound, revealing a toned torso covered in tattoos. Below the reddened, bleeding gunshot graze, there was a gun, next to it a scrawled inscription 'don't think I won't'. A solid heart was above his other hip bone and on his chest were wings and what looked like a kiss mark in the center.

"Whoa," Louis breathed out, impressed. Not to mention, the Black Streak had a toned torso that had Louis nearly drooling—if it weren't for him being wounded and all. He stood up and cleared his throat. “I... I'm sure Liam has a first-aid kit... we bought one when I started doing this whole mess!”

He practically sprinted to the bathroom, washed his hands, then returned with the kit. After opening the box, he brought out cotton balls alcohol, a small spool of thread, and a needle.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" the Black Streak asked him, his chest heaving up and down quick.

"Kind of,” Louis said as he swiped a hand through his fringe to get it out of the way.

"Kind of?!" the Back Streak exclaimed.

"Sorry! Yes, I do. After all... taking care of four little sisters, Mum needed help mending their clothes sometimes, you know."

The Black Streak gulped.

“I'm just gonna need you to relax. You breathe too fast or move, I'm gonna end up making it worse, okay?” Louis told him, finding himself calm somehow.

The Black Streak nodded as he looked down towards his hip.

"You've got sick tattoos. Would have never even known," Louis said as he gently cleaned the wound.

"Thanks,” the Black Streak breathed out with a weak grin.

“All right,” Louis breathed out. He got a needle and thread together, then brought it near the Black Streak's skin. “You might not want to look. Though I'm guessing you're okay with needles.”

The Black Streak breathed out a laugh. “That's different. Tattoo gun doesn't go inside of me with thread. And it's sterilized.”

Louis crookedly smiled. “Well, try to relax anyway. This is going to be a lot slower than a tattoo gun. But I won't have to do much.”

As he began to stitch away, the Black Streak hissed in a breath. Then he looked up and around Louis's bedroom. "You got a nice place."

Louis snorted. "You don't have to say that."

"Nah, I like it. It's... cozy. Nice soft bed," the Black Streak said with a weak grin.

Louis smiled. "Thanks. I imagine you have a lair or like a batcave."

"Not exactly. I'm no millionaire and it's not like crime-fighting pays the bills."

Louis smirked. “So... that cape of yours, where did that come about?”

“You mean my scarf?” the Black Streak asked. Louis took his eyes away from his work and could practically see him raise his eyebrows behind his mask. “I thought we established it was more like a parachute.”

Louis rolled his eyes. “You used it to fly! It's a cape!”

“It was more like falling with style than flying, but...” the Black Streak trailed off with a hint of a grin.

Louis softly laughed as he threaded another stitch in his side. “True, true... So did you make it yourself, or buy it or...”

The Black Streak grunted as he answered, “Well, the truth is my whole crime-fighting career started because of the man who gave it to me. I rescued him from getting mugged one night, and he offered me a job as a personal bodyguard.” Louis stopped threading in order to look at the Black Streak. “He was an old man. Seemed kind of lonely, to be honest. Super rich, too. But he said he admired me. From then on, I realized that I could stand up for more people—to think if I hadn't helped that old man... what might have happened to him... That's why I try and help everyone I can.”

Louis had been listening carefully and was now smiling.

“Anyway, he figured out I'd been acting like a vigilante for a bit. I kind of dressed like you at first,” the Black Streak softly chuckled. “So the old man bought me a 'professional' outfit. And he gave me this scarf. Told me to use it any time I got stuck in a tight spot. He died a few weeks later.”

“I'm sorry,” Louis said.

“It's all right. He left me some money in his will, and told me to get a bike for myself, so I did. And this scarf actually gave me an advantage when I was fighting. And then it kind of just became a trademark. That's why they call me the Black Streak, you know? Because... whoosh!” He had dramatically gesticulated with his hand in front of his face, pulling his face into a wide, crinkled smile.

Louis brought a hand to his mouth, hardly able to contain a grin.

The Black Streak was cute on top of everything else. Shit.

He swallowed his throat as he went back to the stitching. “Yeah, that's pretty cool.”

“Thanks.”

After Louis finished stitching and wrapping up the wound with bandages, the Black Streak put his shirt back on and attempted to sit up.

“Hey! Where do you think you're going?” Louis asked as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I'm not staying here,” the Black Streak said as he zipped up his jacket.

“But.. you're wounded!” Louis protested.

“And you patched me up. Cheers,” the Black Streak argued as he stood up.

Louis frowned as he stood up as well. “Look, if you think it's weird to be staying at my flat, well... I just potentially saved you from bleeding out. I think some display of gratitude is in order!”

The Black Streak tugged down his scarf, revealing his mouth. He smiled as he reached a hand out behind Louis's head and gently grasped it. Louis tensed up, not sure what to expect as the Black Streak gazed him in the eye.

“Thank you.” The Black Streak leaned forward and gently kissed Louis on the mouth.

Louis squeaked in surprise, muffled as he pressed back against his lips, his arms limp at his sides. The Black Streak cupped his jaw with his free hand and tugged at Louis's bottom lip with the softest bite before he let go.

“I have to go,” he breathlessly hushed out as he darted away from Louis, his scarf whipping Louis's side in the process.

“B-but—hey, you can't—” Louis sputtered as he felt his cheeks burn and his hands tingle and his heart jump against his chest. “You used my move!”

But the Black Streak was already gone.

Louis touched his fingers to his lips, his heart still galloping, his hands still trembling.

+

  
  


He's the bloke from the comic shop.

HE'S THE BLOKE FROM THE COMIC SHOP.

Hours later and Zayn was still wrapping his head around it. He lied back in his bed and sighed, still feeling sore from the bullet graze. Still trying to figure out just what the hell happened and what he was supposed to do now that he knew the identity of the thief—and realized that the thief wasn't exactly a bad guy.

Zayn felt a bit bad. He knows who he is now but he still doesn't know who Zayn is. And it was brave of him to take off his mask, to take him to his flat. To help him at all. He risked so much. And Zayn couldn't do the same.

Zayn put an arm over his eyes and groaned. God, he was a proper arse about it, wasn't he? But he didn't know what to do as soon as the bloke had taken off his mask.

And he couldn't help but think about how they had kissed. Twice now. He didn't even really plan to do it at the time, but the way the thief looked at him, the way he had been so good to him... it only felt natural.

But... it probably didn't mean anything to him. It was just banter that first time, anyway. That was all it could look like the second time.

No, Zayn couldn't let him know who he was. That would make things awkward. And a bit selfishly... Zayn didn't want to risk not seeing him ever again in the comic shop... because that was beginning to be the best part of his week.

But what about the next time he came into the shop?

Would he be able to tell who Zayn was?

+

  
  


The Black Streak had predictably been a bit MIA for the next few days. Not that Louis would really know from being on the street, but the news outlets made a point that it had been the longest time in four months that he hadn't saved the day somewhere. Louis knew it would take some time to heal from his wound before going back into the fray, but he still worried.

Life was boring again, and even going to the comic shop wasn't as much fun. The usual cashier was away, which slightly saddened Louis. He looked forward to their small talks.

"Louis?"

"Huh?"

Liam broke him out of his thoughts again as they sat at the kitchen table to eat breakfast. "You all right? You've been kinda staring into space for the last two minutes."

"Oh... Right..." Louis muttered as he realized the spoon he was holding above his cereal bowl was empty.

“So how have things been lately? I feel like I haven't seen you in days,” Liam sadly laughed.

Louis breathed in deep. “Oh, right. Well, I got kidnapped and then the Black Streak saved me before they were going to torture me over this necklace I stole.”

“What?” Liam spat out his cereal, then immediately picked up a napkin to clean it.

Louis sighed. “Right, forgot I didn't tell you... Well, I mean, they went and scared my mum and sisters, but it was a trap, and so they sort of grabbed me and threatened to torture me if I didn't give them the necklace. But then the Black Streak saved me."

Liam's jaw was dropped. “Why have you only waited until now to tell me?!”

Louis ducked his head. “Because I didn't want you to worry. You were finally not worrying about me anymore and having fun with Sophia and... I didn't want to ruin it.”

“Oh, Lou... How could you ever think like that?” Liam asked with a pained look.

"Anyway, I guess it's not really over but my mum hasn't called me about anything like that again. And the Black Streak got hurt that night. Haven't seen him since."

"You look pretty down about it,” Liam commented.

"Do I?" Louis asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mate, you've been moping and wistfully staring into windows all week. Did you guys bond or something?"

"You could say that..." Louis munched on a spoonful of cereal.

Liam side-eyed him. "Wait, I know that look... Louis, did you...and him..?"

"We kissed, all right!" Louis said, his cheeks flaming. "I mean, I kissed him first. And then he kissed me the second time, but like... it didn't mean anything!"

"Doesn't really look like that from this angle," Liam teased with his arms crossed.

Louis reached up to tweak his nipple before Liam caught his wrist. Louis opted for a successful dick-punch instead.

"Do you... well, you like him?" Liam asked as he caught his breath.

"Sure, what's not to like?"

"Are you two like mates now, though?"

"...I don't know what we are." Louis looked down. "Anyway, even if it did mean something... it would never work out."

"Why do you say that?"

"Liam—he's a bloody superhero and I'm just... a scatty thief with a few tricks and a boring office job."

"You're more than that, you know. And you're not a thief. Not really, anyway." Liam gave him a smile.

"Still, how often does the loser criminal with no name get involved with the main character? Never,” Louis scoffed.

"You're not a loser criminal. You're Louis!" Liam beamed. "And you said it yourself: you and the Black Streak aren't very much different."

"Well... it didn't mean anything."

_Not to him, anyway..._

+

  
  


It was a slow day for Zayn at the comic shop. Once he was able to walk without his wound hurting, he got right back to work. He had to take sick days off and pretend to have a cold. Niall still tended to him as if he really did have a cold, and gave him all his meals in bed or on the couch, where Zayn reclined and slept most of the week.

He was sketching on his notepad at the counter when the bell rang for the first time in two hours that day.

He looked up and saw that it was that pointy-haired bloke who was also the thief he'd been tailing and rescuing the week prior.

Zayn's heart caught in his throat and he felt himself grow warm.

"Hey!" the bloke beamed as soon as he met Zayn's eyes. God, Zayn didn't even know his name... which he supposed was just as well, since he couldn't gather enough courage to take off his mask.

"Oh—Hi," Zayn quietly replied as he adjusted his glasses and attempted to calm his breathing.

"I haven't seen you here in a while. I mean, I guess you don't work here all the time."

"Yeah... I took some time off."

"Good."

"Yeah, it was good."

The bloke cleared his throat. "I'm gonna go... browse..."

Zayn nodded and lightly chuckled. "You gonna buy something today?"

"Uh, maybe," the bloke uncertainly said.

Zayn rolled his eyes at himself. That was bad banter. "I was kidding. You don't have to buy anything. If you don't want to."

"Right. Of course."

He went over to the usual stacks and fingered through the issues. He looked a bit different from what Zayn remembered from their last encounter. Of course, now he knows that he was the cheeky burglar the whole time, it was a bit easier to imagine his face behind a mask. But how Zayn could not immediately recognize those remarkable eyes, or that mouth of his... it baffled him. And to think he'd been acquainted with those lips and teeth while not knowing every time he walked into the shop after their first kiss. Of course, the second kiss was much different. The bloke was soft and pliant that time, all his ferocity gone. He was quite gentle with Zayn that entire night, now that Zayn thought about it.

He glanced up briefly and towards Zayn, which made Zayn's heart stutter. He realized he had been staring at him for a while and immediately turned towards a stack that looked like it needed some tidying up.

It was silent, and usually Zayn would strike up some sort of conversation, or this bloke would start talking about the Black Streak—how ironic. Of course, he probably had nothing to talk about this week—not to mention, it must be weird for him to talk about the Black Streak when he has such a personal connection to him now. This was all a bit confusing to think about in context.

The silence was interrupted by another customer who came in through the door.

“Hello!” Zayn greeted. Then he met the bloke's eyes. Zayn looked away immediately.

Now his heart was pounding because... what if he can recognize him now?

Suddenly a loud scratching sound of TV static blared through the shop. Zayn darted to the TV and saw a dark scene—not the news. It was a man in a balaclava, next to a man who was tied to a chair. The one in the chair was dressed in all black and had a sack over his head.

“What the fuck?” Zayn whispered to himself. He briefly met eyes with the thief/customer, who looked just as wary.

"Oi, greetings, London. Thanks to a certain rat who is living amongst yourselves, we have had something taken from us. Something very precious. So now, we're taking something precious o'yours back.” He turned around and gestured to the man in the chair, who looked like he was slumped over. “We've got the Black Streak held hostage here. And if you want to see your hero live to see another day, you best meet us at midnight. Same place. Same time. And give us back what you took. That's all. We'll be waiting."

The TV switched into static again before reverting back to the regular news programme. Zayn knew it was a load of bullshit, but that bloke was still looking up at the screen. His eyes were intent, his brow creased, and his mouth drawn tight, the colour rising to his face. He tightened the comic he held in his hand as his lip curled a bit.

Shit. That looks like the impassioned look of someone who's going to do something reckless. Zayn wanted to tell him that it's alright and that those blokes were lying, but... how could he justify that? It's not like Zayn could just be like "The Black Streak's okay! And surprise! It's me!"

He couldn't tell him anything right now to get that look of concern off his face. He couldn't warn him. That would give away that Zayn knew who he was. And Zayn wasn't sure if he was ready for that, right at this minute.

"He'll be okay," he told him.

"Huh?"

"The Black Streak. I don't believe those fuckers. There's no way he'd get taken hostage by the likes of 'em." Zayn smirked at him.

The bloke cracked a smile and loosened his grip on the comic. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Zayn nodded. "I'm sure he's perfectly fine."

Something in that bloke's eyes told him that he didn't believe him, though. And it worried Zayn.

Fuck his fear. He has to tell him who he is. To protect him.

Zayn glanced around the shop, noting they weren't alone. He waited until the bloke took two comics and placed them onto the counter. While Zayn was ringing him up, he decided that was his last chance to save him.

"Hey, do you, uh, do you... want to grab dinner with me? Or drinks?" Zayn asked in a voice he wished had been a bit louder. He was nervous, fuck.

"What?" the bloke asked.

"Erm, I'm kind of asking you out." Zayn awkwardly laughed. “I mean—” He slapped a palm to his forehead. “Oh gosh, I didn't even ask if you like blokes, fuck—”

“It's all right! I do. Like blokes, I mean. Umm. Uhh." The bloke breathed out a laugh. "I mean, yes. Dinner. Or Drinks. That sounds great.” He was smiling wide at Zayn, his eyes shining and bordered by crinkles, which made Zayn feel a lot better.

"Oh, okay." Zayn grinned wide. “Great!”

“So... should we exchange numbers?” the bloke asked after a beat. "I don't even know your name."

"Oh, yeah. Of course.” Zayn shook his head. “And my name... It's Zayn."

"I'm Louis,” the bloke said with a grin as he pulled out his mobile.

"Louis," Zayn repeated with a smile. "Um. How does tonight at nine-thirty work?"

"Uh...” Zayn could see the wheels turning in Louis's mind. No doubt wondering if he'd have enough time to get to those crooks afterwards. “Sure. Where?"

"Uh, I'll figure it out later. I'll text you,” Zayn said as he pulled out his own mobile. They exchanged numbers and he finished bagging Louis's comics.

"Here you go. I'll see you—later tonight, I guess?" Zayn asked.

"Of course. See you!" Louis left with a wave and a grin.

After he was gone, Zayn put his head in his hands. He made a right mess of that, didn't he?

Not only that, he wasn't sure he was only flustered trying not to give himself away... Louis, talking to Louis, looking at Louis, knowing that he was the bloke he had kissed twice now... that was terrifying on its own.

Because Zayn had already fallen for him.

+

  
  


Louis kept telling himself this date was a good thing. That bloke Zayn was fit and nice and he liked talking to him. He thought that even before he'd kissed the Black Streak. Not like that should matter.

He made sure to dress somewhat nice and wore his cleanest pair of skinny jeans, black t-shirt and his favourite chequered long sleeve shirt. He even washed his hair, styled it, and put on some cologne—much to Liam's delight. Louis denied it, though Liam could tell that he was getting ready for a date. It was Louis's first date in nearly a year.

Once he got to the address of the pub Zayn had texted him, he immediately spotted him. The pub was dark and filled with the noise of people's conversation and music, though Zayn sat in a corner just below a lantern. He was wearing a leather jacket over a white t-shirt, though his sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, revealing his tattoos. He wasn't wearing his glasses.

"Hi,” Louis said after walking up to him.

"Hi!” Zayn turned to him on the stool he was sat on. “Go ahead, sit!”

Louis did as told and sat on the stool, facing Zayn. They were both smiling at each other now, but no one was saying anything. Zayn bit and licked at his own lip as he laughed nervously. Without his glasses, he didn't necessarily look more handsome—but Louis could now fully appreciate his beautiful eyes.

"So... you usually ask customers out on a date?" Louis asked, the only thing he could think of to break the silence.

Zayn shook his head. "Never, actually."

"Hmm,” Louis remarked with a nod.

Zayn cast his eyes down and swallowed. "Hey, um, the truth is..."

Oh no. It was too good to be true. There's no way someone that fit would ever ask Louis out. He should have known.

"...I didn't really ask you here just for a date."

"Well, lay it on me," Louis sucked in his cheeks and scoffed. "What do you want?"

Zayn furrowed his brow. "I don't want anything from you. I just want to talk."

"About?"

"About the Black Streak," Zayn said in a lower voice.

"Look, mate, if you're a closet fan, well... you _do_ work in a comic shop. I'm sure no one would mind if—"

"You don't get it," Zayn groaned.

"What am I missing exactly?"

"It's me," Zayn said, staring at Louis solemnly.

Louis tilted his head back and appropriately laughed. "Good one!"

"I'm serious. I'm... the Black Streak." Zayn whispered.

Louis softly laughed again. "Okay. What is it, were you put up to this by a mate, or are you just this much of a fucking prick on your own?"

Zayn reached forward and caught him by the collar of his chequered shirt. "Louis, it's me! And I can prove it because,” Zayn lowered his voice into a whisper, “last week we fought together and I got hurt... and that's the only way I'd know you have a Donny Rovers flag up on your bedroom wall."

"Stalker!" Louis protested.

Zayn shifted his eyes, then pulled up his white t-shirt, revealing tattoos of a heart, an inscription, and the handle of a gun. And a rosy pink scar just above it. "Now do you believe me?"

Louis's throat went dry. He looked back into Zayn's shining hazel eyes and glanced down to his slightly chapped lips. Louis placed a palm in front of his eyes to mask the upper half of Zayn's face and examined the way his jaw looked and the way his eyes stared into him from the slit between his fingers.

"Oh shit, it's really you," Louis breathed out.

Zayn nodded.

Louis put a fist to his mouth, processing. It was one terrifying thing to be on a date with possibly the most beautiful man he's ever laid eyes on. It was another terrifying thing to be sat at a bar with the Black Streak... who happens to _**be**_ the most beautiful man he's ever laid eyes on. He looked at Zayn again and flashed back to his grin and the touch of Zayn's lips on his—and all the times he mortifyingly fanboyed about the Black Streak to him.

"Oh god...” Louis whispered out, in horror.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. Or take off my mask, especially after you took off yours. I was just... " Zayn sighed as he guiltily glanced toward Louis. "I was worried."

"Worried about what?"

"That... you'd freak out."

"I'm not freaking out!" Louis said in a high pitch. He cleared his throat. "I mean, it's um... well... I've seen you all the time. How did I not...?"

"Same. You'd think I'd be able to tell when you barely even wear a disguise."

Louis cleared his throat. "Hey! If you're the Black Streak, then earlier on the TV—"

"They don't have me,” Zayn told him. “That's why I wanted to tell you. So that you didn't do anything rash."

"I wasn't going to do anything rash!" Louis protested as he crossed his arms.

"Well, now we're sure of that," Zayn nodded. "Seems like we're not quite out of the woods yet, though." He sighed as he crossed his hands on the counter.

Louis looked at him, noting how easily it was to imagine him in his Black Streak outfit, even with the scarf.

"Do they just want you dead or... do you still have something of theirs?" Zayn asked.

"They don't care about the money—which I gave all to charities, by the way."

"Hmm.” Zayn raised his eyebrow, like he was intrigued. “Then what do they care about?"

"I picked something else up from Von Dellen's safe,” Louis gulped.

"What is it?" Zayn had a neutral expression on his face.

Louis nervously swiped a hand through his fringe. "Some kind of iced out necklace. Figured it was worth millions. I was planning on just dumping it into the Thames—until I realised they were going to kill me for it."

Zayn raised his eyebrows. "Well, now that they think I'm helping you, they've got us both targeted. And they're not going to stop until they get that necklace—or kill us.”

Louis heaved out a sigh. This was far from over, wasn't it?

"We need to deal with this once and for all. Give them something so that they stop going after you."

“And you,” Louis said in a low voice as he looked down. “It's my fault you're mixed up in this mess."

Zayn patted his arm. "Hey, it's my job right? You helped lead me to some very bad guys."

Louis sighed. "Still... I'm responsible for this. And I need to make sure they don't go anywhere near my mum or sisters again."

Zayn nodded intently. "So.. do you want to strategize together? You can come over to mine."

Louis laughed.

"What?"

"The Black Streak is inviting me to his place,” Louis said with a laugh.

"Well, you took me to yours first," Zayn responded.

"That's true." Louis gulped again. “You work in a bloody comic shop... that's your cover.”

“Oi, that's my job. Not my cover,” Zayn explained with a raised eyebrow.

“But you'd think I'd put two and two together much quicker!” Louis shook his head and put it down on the counter. Zayn softly giggled.

"Hey... um, now that we've got our identities out in the open...” Zayn quietly started as he looked down and rubbed his hands together. “Did you... did you really mean it when you said you were a fan of me and all those other times you said you thought I was sick?"

Louis kept his chin rested on the counter, his cheeks burning. To say yes would be embarrassing. But to say no would be insulting. And a lie. And Zayn was looking at him with such hopeful eyes.

"Yes,” Louis said in a quiet voice as he turned to him. “I wouldn't embarrass myself like that in front of anyone if I was just joking about it.”

“It's not embarrassing. It's really cool, actually.” Zayn glanced down and picked his lips up into a smile. “Thanks. It meant a lot to me to hear it.” He glanced at Louis now, his hazel eyes warm and comforting.

All Louis could think about at that moment is that he had looked at him the same way before he kissed him the last night they met. And he wondered if Zayn had been thinking about that kiss, too. If he had been thinking about his lips late at night before he went to sleep, wondering if he'd feel them on his again.

The thing is... Louis liked Zayn. Completely separate from him being the Black Streak. He was really starting to like the kind cashier who humoured him with conversation in the comic shop, and Louis's liking toward him had been growing stronger each time he passed through that door. And now that Louis knew he was also the Black Streak, whom Louis was also starting to have feelings for, this clinched it.

In a world where things worked out for Louis, this would be the best thing ever—except in reality it was the worst thing ever because this was just a business meeting to Zayn. It wasn't a real date, he said so himself. And that was enough confirmation for Louis that Zayn/the Black Streak would never be interested in him in that way.

Louis picked his head up off the counter and straightened up. "Are you still going to have me arrested after all this is over?"

Zayn lost his smile, then looked down at his glass. "I should. But you know... You just can't catch them all."

Louis grinned. Zayn was grinning now, too.

"Just promise me you're done breaking the law after we clean up this mess,” Zayn told him with an arched eyebrow.

“Promise,” Louis said with a fervent nod.

+

  
  


Zayn and Louis met up the next night to go over strategy of what to do next. They decided not to meet those thugs since obviously they didn't have the Black Streak, so nothing happened to him. Which meant they'd have to scramble to find him some other way. But Zayn didn't want to give them the opportunity. He was going to pin them down first.

“I had my flatmate Niall do some research on one of the license plates I remembered seeing on one of the cars. We've pinpointed that squirrely one, John Truman, that's his name. We're going to stop by his house and interrogate him,” Zayn told Louis as they sat on the rooftop of Louis's flat while Liam slept.

“Politely knocking or doing this my way?” Louis asked him with a grin.

“What do you think?” Zayn questioned with a smug look.

They sneaked over to Truman's flat after midnight and slipped in through a back window. Truman was sitting in his living room watching some awful sitcom with a beer in his hand.

Louis and Zayn met looks and Zayn signaled with a hand that he'd go first. He knocked on the wall, causing Truman to glance back and then shriek in surprise.

“Oi, what the fuck?!”

Zayn told him calmly, “Now, I don't exactly want to hurt you, mate, so if you could answer some questions for me and stay seated, that would be very much appreciated.”

Truman retorted, “You can't make me talk!”

“We can start lighting some things on fire, then?” Louis said with a sparkle in his eye as he took a lighter from his pocket and switched it on.

“You wouldn't...” Truman growled as he started after Louis, though Zayn put himself in front of him.

“Do you really want to test me, mate?” Zayn asked with a smug grin as he crossed his arms. Truman swallowed and stayed silent.

Louis shuffled over to the mantle, where a small, wooden owl figurine stood. “This looks very nice...” He brought the flame to the top of the owl's head and fire sprouted quickly.

“Not Bernie!” Truman wailed as he stretched out a hand.

Zayn thought it might be a bit much, but Truman was starting to freak out, so it worked. Zayn grinned, wondering if he and Louis just had the same scare tactics, or if it was something Louis had picked up after seeing him do the same at that robbery a few weeks ago.

“Fine!” Truman glared at Zayn, then Louis, and then sat down again. “What do you want to know?”

Louis took the owl off the mantle and snuffed out the flames with his gloves.

Zayn walked up to Truman and hovered over him. "What's so special about the necklace? Who wants it?"

Truman swallowed. "Winston. Ben Winston. You know, that super-rich guy."

"What for?"

"Von Dellen owed him a favour. He was supposed to keep the necklace safe. Garner was supposed to be responsible for Von Dellen not fucking up, since he owes Von Dellen money.”

“So everyone steals from each other, I don't care—why does Winston want the necklace so badly that he'd kill for it?” Louis snapped.

"I don't know! Okay? I just work for Garner's crew,” Truman whined.

"It's all dirty money, anyway,” Louis scoffed to Zayn. “Let's just pawn it off for charity."

"You can't pawn something like that off! It's one of a kind,” Truman blurted out. “They'll know whose it is. More importantly, Winston will come after you. Who do you think has been sending those hoity toity blokes with their BMWs?"

"Winston's the one who sent those guys to scare those people?" Louis asked.

"Yeah. He's responsible for that."

Louis ground his teeth together. "We're keeping the necklace."

"What?" Zayn asked as he creased his brow. "He's gonna kill you. We need to give it back. Then this will all stop."

"No! A man like that who goes about terrorizing innocents... he doesn't deserve to be given more wealth,” Louis sneered.

"If we don't give it back, then we're nothing more than criminals ourselves!" Zayn protested.

Louis glared at him. "How do you think I got into this situation in the first place? I'm a thief."

Zayn pursed his lips. "Well, we'll figure out what to do with the necklace. And with Winston. But first, let's take this guy to the station."

“Hey! That's not fair! I gave you information—I--I can still be useful! Please!” Truman begged.

Zayn glanced at Louis with a skeptical raise of his eyebrow. “What do you think?”

“Don't ask me, I'm a criminal,” Louis bitterly replied.

Zayn sighed and turned back to Truman. “I can't risk you letting anyone else know that we contacted you. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to turn you in.”

“You... you're no better than the crooks I work for!” Truman spat at Zayn's shoe, which Zayn winced at.

Zayn and Louis ended up cuffing him and leaving him on the doorstep of the nearest police station with a note explaining his affiliation to the gang he was in.

“He was wrong, you know,” Louis told Zayn as they ran from the station.

“About?”

“About you being no better than the crooks. You are better. You're better than the police, too. You're the hero this city needs.” Louis sounded sincere and his mouth was curved into a gentle smile.

“What about the one it deserves?” Zayn asked with a grin.

Louis laughed. “Damn it, I thought I was going to sound cool.”

“Not quite far enough from the original quote, mate,” Zayn laughed.

“I mean it, though.” Louis warmly smiled.

Zayn smiled back. “Thank you.”

+

 

The next day, Zayn had texted Louis to meet him at noon because he had information on Winston. They met in Battersea Park, just near the lake. In the daylight, Louis supposed Zayn looked less annoying and self-righteous. Especially when he was smoking a cig and had a beanie on with his soft hair poking out of it.

"We have to give that necklace to Winston,” Zayn told Louis. "He won't stop until he finds you. He will kill you for it."

Louis huffed out a sigh. “It's not right, though.”

Zayn narrowed his eyes. “It's going to keep you alive.”

“All right...” Louis groaned.

Zayn pulled a quick smile. "So there's going to be a Halloween party-slash-formal ball Saturday night. That famous high-society bloke Harry Styles is hosting it. He and Winston are close friends. Well, rumours are that they're more than friends, if you get what I mean.”

"So?"

"So we should leave the necklace there."

"How are we going to do that without him figuring out I stole it in the first place?"

Zayn shrugged. “Just slip it on Winston's person when he's not looking. He won't know where it came from. He gets his necklace. No one goes hunting for you anymore."

Louis put a hand to his chin. "Just like that?"

“Just like that,” Zayn nodded with a smile.

"What if after that they still try to kill us?" Louis asked.

"Then we'll call the police." Zayn shrugged, bringing the cigarette to his lips again.

Louis snorted. "Brilliant plan."

Zayn furrowed his brow and let out a puff of smoke as he took away his cigarette. "Do you have a better idea?"

Louis looked down and remained silent.

"That's what I thought." Zayn smirked, sucking in his cheeks as he took another drag from his cigarette.

Zayn as the Black Streak always seemed like such a good, upstanding guy—and he was—but there was a bit of cheekiness to him. Which Louis supposed he liked as well.

Louis folded his arms together. "Fine. So how are we going to do this?"

“First, we're going to need to get suits,” Zayn said.

“Like... superhero suits?”

“No, like... proper formal attire suits. Please tell me you have one.”

Louis scoffed. “Haha, no! Do you?”

Zayn brought two fingers to rub at his eyebrow in vexation. “Let's go get you a suit tomorrow, then.”

+

  
  


Saturday night came around and Louis and Zayn emerged from a taxi to a gold carpet that led into a high-end hotel. They were both sharply dressed in black tuxes with their hair done up. Louis's was sculpted higher than usual and combed back, though he left a rebellious wave of hair fall to the side of his forehead. Zayn actually didn't look much different than he usually did, though he wore a small black scarf around his neck. His hair wasn't quite long enough to put into a quiff like Louis, but it looked softer, and he had a couple thin strands curving over his forehead.

“Why don't they just call you the Black _Scarf_ since you're obsessed with them?” Louis muttered as soon as they got onto the carpet. In the bright light, it was better for him to examine Zayn's ridiculous beauty. So naturally, he focused on what he could make fun of him for.

“So you finally agree that it's a scarf...” Zayn raised his brow at Louis with a smug grin.

Louis rolled his eyes. "Sure, it's a scarf! So are we here as friends or as dates?"

"Whatever you prefer,” Zayn replied without turning to Louis as he walked on.

Louis creased his brow as he followed. They walked through the green carpet and into a hall that was bursting with ambient indie pop music. The hall was a lavish, large venue with a lot of tables and a huge open space in the center where a couple hundred guests were already mingling. There were long, draping sheets and swathes of gold lining the walls, as well as waiters and waitresses dressed in black and gold outfits.

“Let's do this,” Zayn huffed out as he walked first. Louis followed him into the forest of wealthy socialites and lower-profile celebrities.

Except not too far away Louis saw a familiar ruggedly handsome, though somewhat squishy, face. And the gorgeous girl he was with... it was Liam and Sophia!

"Wait—what's Liam doing here?" Louis gasped, mostly to himself. Zayn followed his eyes and spotted Liam, who was dressed in a black tux, walking arm in arm with Sophia, who was dressed in a lovely emerald gown with a long train. Liam was glancing around and caught Louis's eyes, then walked over to him.

"Louis, what are you doing here?” Liam exclaimed, mouth open wide into a grin.

Louis creased his brow. “I should be asking you that! Since when do you hang around these kind of people?”

Liam blushed. “Oh, well, Soph is friends of friends with Harry. They met at a fashion show a few months ago.”

Louis nodded.

“Oh, I'm sorry. Who are you?" Liam asked as he looked at Zayn. Oh. Yeah.

Zayn moved forward and shook hands with Liam, a radiant crooked smile forming on his mouth. "Hi, I'm Louis's... date. Zayn."

After he returned, Zayn curled an arm around Louis's waist, which made Louis blush as he melded into the soft, yet firm touch. Louis turned to face him and Zayn smiled whilst pressing his fingers into his hips. Louis had to fight not to let it show on his face how much he enjoyed that feeling.

"Oh! Well... he's never mentioned you before,” Liam said in an awkward, stilted voice.

"Been kinda busy..." Louis blurted out as he looked back at Liam. “Hi Sophia!”

Sophia smiled and went up to Louis to give him a kiss on his cheek. “Hi Louis! You look so handsome!”

Louis grinned. “And you look as lovely as ever yourself.”

"Nice to meet you! I'm Sophia," she said as she moved forward and shook hands with Zayn.

“Nice to meet you, I'm Zayn,” Zayn said as he shook her hand, placing another palm over it like a gentleman. Liam gave Louis a wide-eyed, skeptical look in the meantime and Louis had to bite his lip and look down.

“So... where'd you two meet?” Liam asked as he lasered in his stare on Louis.

“He works at a comic shop,” Louis quickly explained as he looked toward Zayn, who immediately nodded.

“I've never seen him before...” Liam said with a crease of his brow.

“Not the one we go to,” Louis said with a clear of his throat. “I usually stop at one by where I work. And that's where Zayn works.”

“Oh...” Liam said as he nodded. Sophia politely smiled and nodded as well.

“So... guess we'll see you around the party?” Sophia asked as she turned to Liam and smiled up at him. Liam put an arm around her waist and beamed into her face. They were seriously disgusting. When were they already going to get married?

“Yeah, sure!” Louis replied, waving. As soon as they left, Zayn took his arm from Louis's side. It felt cold now.

“...I guess a lot more people were invited than just the typical A-list crowd,” Zayn mused as they continued to walk through the hall.

“How did you manage an invite anyway?” Louis asked Zayn.

“Oh, I stole one.”

“You stole?”

“All for the greater good, right?” Zayn smirked.

Louis grinned up at him. “I suppose the line between good and bad guy just got a bit more grey, did it not?”

Zayn sighed. “Look, I'm not proud of it, but it was an annoying bloke at my flatmate's work, so... karma, in a way.”

Louis giggled.

Zayn furrowed his brow. “Speaking of my flatmate...”

Louis turned around.

"Niall's here. But... he didn't get an invite and he shouldn't know anyone here..."

Louis looked to where Zayn had his eyes set, towards the top of a large staircase at the end of a hall. Louis could see a blond in a white jacket and black trousers who was laughing and smiling at a lad with curly brown hair. The other lad was dressed in a vibrant purple suit with a bright, beaming smile directed at Niall.

"That's Harry.”

“The one dressed as Willy Wonka?” Louis joked.

Zayn cracked a laugh. “Yeah. Niall never mentioned that he knew him. He must be doing a story on this, then..."

"Well, that's great,” Louis sighed. “Both of our close friends are here as we attempt to carry out an important operation."

Zayn touched his shoulder then nodded near Harry to a circular section of the balcony that was barred off by velvet rope. "There's Winston."

He was a sturdy-looking man in a navy-blue suit, his hair slicked back, his beard and goatee skinny and perfectly trimmed. He had a copper-colored drink in his hand and was throwing his head back laughing at something. Louis felt like sirens were going off as his entire body tensed. This was the man responsible for all the plight his family had gone through the past few months. The reason he was now being hunted down.

"Can I take a photo of you two?" Louis was brought back to reality by the photographer who had tapped both him and Zayn on the shoulder.

Zayn and Louis met eyes, gave each other approving looks, and then turned. Zayn brought an arm around Louis's waist, pulling him in so close that they stood at eye level to each other. It would be so easy for Louis to just lean over and kiss him. He swallowed and tentatively brought an arm around Zayn. Then he remembered he had to turn to the camera and stop staring at him. They both smiled.

“Lovely! You guys make a beautiful couple,” the photographer said before she flitted to the next couple.

Zayn released him, then put his hand back in his suit pocket. He glanced up and down Louis's outfit, which made Louis's throat grow dry under that scrutinizing, careful gaze.

"You look great tonight. Didn't know you could clean up so well," Zayn told him with a crooked grin.

"Thanks. You look... well like your usual unearthly self,” Louis tried.

Zayn furrowed his brow. "Is that a good thing?'

"Yes," Louis said as he felt himself blush.

"Thank you," Zayn said as he grinned wider and ducked his head.

"Hi! I don't think I've met you," announced a deep voice. It was Harry Styles, with Niall right next to him.

The blond bloke wrinkled his brow once he saw Zayn. “Zayn! What are you doing here?"

“What are you doing here? I thought you said you had no plans,” Zayn replied.

“Well, the person who had this story got sick at the last minute. So I picked it up.” He darted his clear, blue eyes over to Louis and quickly gave him a once-over. “Oh, hi. Who are you?”

"I'm his date. Louis," Louis said as he clapped a hand on Zayn's shoulder, then stretched a hand forward to shake Niall's.

Niall quickly flicked an eyebrow up as he looked back to Zayn. “You didn't mention you had a date...”

Zayn cleared his throat. “Yeah, erm...” Louis looked at him, and saw a red flush come to his cheeks.

“Oh, I didn't even introduce myself properly—I'm Harry!” Harry gave them a wide, white grin. “Thank you for coming! Do you like it so far?”

Louis smiled at him. “Yeah, it's great. Very...gold!”

“I figured people would be wearing all different types of colours, so gold and black kind of goes with everything. Of course, I seem to be one of the few who actually wore something other than black tonight.”

Niall laughed at this. Harry looked to him with a grin.

“Black is the new black, I guess?” Zayn added. Harry gleamed at him.

“Yeah, I suppose so. You're a beautiful couple by the way," Harry remarked. “Love the classic black and white.”

Zayn and Louis looked to each other awkwardly, then looked down.

"Well, enjoy the rest of the party. I'm giving Niall a full exclusive!" Harry winked.

Niall laughed nervously and explained, “I'm writing a story on the party for the paper. That's what he meant by exclusive.”

“Yeah, that too.” Harry grinned, causing his dimples to show. Niall raised an eyebrow at him.

"So I'll see you later?" Zayn asked.

"Yeah. Have fun on your date," Niall said as he glanced towards Louis.

"You too," Zayn replied with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Niall flushed a vivid shade of red as Harry laughed, smiling at him.

After they left, Louis turned to Zayn with a skeptical crease of his brow. “I thought you said Winston and Harry were a thing?”

“Who's to say they're not still?” Zayn shrugged. “Harry likes Niall, though. That should be...interesting.”

They walked on through the hall until they reached a table with all manner of refreshments and finger foods.

“God, that Harry is loaded, isn't he?” Louis said as he munched on a mini-bacon cheeseburger.

Zayn raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, well, enjoy the food, but remember what we're here for. We need to meet Winston, so that you can slip him the necklace."

"Why do I have to do it?" Louis grumbled as he took two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter.

"Hey, you can't drink on the job! We're not here to actually party. This is a serious operation,” Zayn urged as he crossed his arms.

"And this is champagne from a bottle that probably costs more money than either of us make in a month,” Louis said as he handed Zayn a glass. “Cheers!"

Zayn tilted his head in accordance and clinked his glass with Louis's.

+

  
  


It was difficult to find an opportunity to get close to Winston since he was constantly surrounded by people he knew very well. It would be hard for Louis to earn his way next to him without bringing attention to himself in such a well-lit party. So he and Zayn simply tried to be good party guests for a few hours.

“How are we supposed to get near him?” Louis whispered to Zayn at one point.

“You're the one who's good at breaking into places,” Zayn told him with a shrug. “Just get past security.”

“Yeah, but you saw the way he turned out people right away. He'll notice,” Louis sighed.

“Well, maybe as the party goes on, he'll get more drunk, and then you can make your move,” Zayn suggested.

“You're not doing any work,” Louis grumbled.

“Sure I am. I'm your date.” Zayn grinned at him.

“Well, why don't you act more like it?” Louis muttered.

Zayn creased his brow. “What do you mean?”

"I mean... We should probably dance. To blend in, you know. Like all the other couples," Louis said as he gestured to the dancefloor. He could see Sophia smiling radiantly as she humoured Liam's dorky dancing. They were always so happy together. Louis kind of envied him, especially when the only person he was interested in was sitting right next to him. And yet...

"I don't dance,” Zayn said with a shake of his head.

Louis scoffed. "Well then, we're just going to be a couple of wallflowers all night? We stick out more if we sit on the sidelines. Especially if we're not doing anything."

Zayn reached for Louis's hand and pulled him up. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Louis asked as he felt a blush consume his cheeks.

"We're going to dance so you can quit squabbling,” Zayn gritted through his teeth.

They walked onto the dance floor until they reached the center of the crowd. Zayn swallowed as he looked around him, standing still. His eyes were a bit bigger than usual, though his mouth was pressed into a slight frown.

Louis sniggered. “My god, Zayn... you really are allergic to dancing, aren't you?”

“I just... I can't dance,” Zayn whispered to Louis's ear.

Louis laughed. “Well, no one's expecting you to be Beyoncé! Just move with the music!” He began to casually bump his hips and his head to the music.

Zayn looked at him with apprehension, then tried to move his narrow hips in time with the beat. He looked to Louis with a bashful smile as they moved towards each other with each sway. Then Louis raised his hands up in the same motion of the rhythm and Zayn began to do the same.

Louis looked up and down Zayn's body and grinned. “See, you've got about a drop of rhythm in you!”

Zayn stopped and narrowed his eyes at Louis, though a scrunchy grin was forming on his mouth. He picked up his head as soon as the song changed, his eyebrows rising.

"Hey, Ghostbusters!" Zayn beamed a smile at Louis. After bumping his head more confidently to this song, he loosened his shoulders and hips, stepping side to side as he bopped and shimmied to the eighties tune. He leaned into Louis, and Louis began to follow his dance moves.

"I ain't afraid of no ghost!" Zayn sang along enthusiastically.

Louis smiled. Zayn was a nerd! An absolute nerd who confidently danced in public to the Ghostbusters theme song! Louis felt his heart grow three sizes more for him. Zayn was grinning, his nose crinkling, his eyes sparkling as he looked to Louis to sing along with him. By the time the song ended, they both fell into one another laughing.

“I think that was enough for now,” Zayn said, trying to calm down his giggles.

“Yeah, all right!” Louis replied, smiling back as “Thriller” began to play.

After they got back to their table, Louis looked up towards the balcony and saw Winston sitting alone, sipping on a glass. “Listen, I have an idea,” he told Zayn. “Winston likes pretty blokes like Harry, right?”

“Yeah...” Zayn said with a skeptical eye at Louis.

“Well, Harry's indisposed and I'm looking at the prettiest bloke in the entire room.”

Zayn choked out a laugh and his cheeks grew rosy. “Wow. Erm. Are you—are you joking?”

“No, I'm not!” Louis grumbled, feeling his own cheeks flame. “Please tell me you know how aesthetically appealing your face is!”

Zayn looked down and shrugged. “Well, I mean, I know I'm good-looking, but—”

“You're beautiful, Zayn,” Louis told him. Then he cleared his throat, afraid he sounded too sincere by the stunned, soft look in Zayn's eyes. “Now go charm your way towards Winston.”

“You sure this will work?”

Louis grabbed a glass of champagne and handed it to Zayn. “Don't worry. I'll be right behind you.”

Louis watched as Zayn went up towards the private box and raised his glass to Winston with a nod. Winston looked intrigued, a grin forming on his lips. He walked over to Zayn and beckoned him to follow into his private area.

Louis sneaked closer to the box, only vaguely able to hear the conversation between Zayn and Winston. Zayn was smiling handsomely and laughing along with something Winston had just said. A bit of jealousy burned in Louis's chest, though he knew it was only an act.

Zayn sat down on one of the couches next to Winston and they started chatting, getting closer so that they were basically whispering to each other. Louis gripped the necklace in his pocket and waited for the opportune moment to be able to slip in undetected by the guard.

That moment came when Zayn stood up and accidentally spilled his champagne over Winston's chest.

“I am so, so sorry!” Zayn apologized loudly. He turned to the guard with a wrinkled, distressed brow. “Please, could we get a towel or napkin or...”

The guard left his post and Louis silently slipped past the velvet rope as Zayn went up close to Winston and began to unbutton his shirt. He took the small scarf from his own neck and dabbed at Winston's chest. “I'm sorry, I'm so clumsy.”

“It's really quite alright,” Louis heard Winston say as he casually walked with the necklace in hand, looking for a place to drop it. The couch where Zayn and Winston were sitting had mahogany cup holders in between the seats. There was a bucket of ice with sparkling wine bottles in it. Maybe he could slip it in there.

Zayn briefly caught eyes with Louis as he dabbed at Winston's chest, though he made no indication of that to Winston. “You know, perhaps if we stood up here...” Zayn pulled Winston to his feet and walked backwards to the edge of the balcony. “There's more light so I can see,” Zayn said as he continued to concentrate on keeping Winston's vision occupied as Louis moved behind his back.

Louis slipped the necklace into the bucket, then promptly moved away. But not without hearing Winston chuckle as he cupped a hand on Zayn's neck.

“You're very cute,” he told Zayn.

Zayn glanced down and picked up the corner of his mouth into a smile. “Thanks.”

“And so modest,” Winston said with another chuckle, which got Zayn laughing. “With a face like yours, though... who has the time to be modest?”

Louis focused on pushing away the jealous feelings in his chest so that he could remember his mission—to get out of there unseen. As he turned around, he saw the guard walk back with a serviette. Though his heart raced, he simply picked up his head and acted like he belonged up there, patting the lad on the back with a grin. After he left, he waited in the nearby corridor just outside of the balcony. It was another agonizing minute before Zayn crossed past the velvet rope again.

“There you are!” he whispered to Zayn as he beckoned him over. From this vantage point, they could see Winston and watched as he sat down on the couch again.

"How did I do?” Zayn asked.

“Brilliant. Almost too good,” Louis muttered. At seeing Zayn's worried brow, he cleared his throat. “I mean, I don't think he saw me put the necklace there.”

"Good. Then it was worth him practically snogging my ear—and his cologne smells gross.” Zayn shook his head and shuddered.

Louis looked past Zayn and saw Winston's brow crease as he looked down, and reached into the bucket of ice. Then he turned his head around, like he was searching for something or someone.

"Shit,” Louis hushed out as he grabbed Zayn by the lapels on his suit and pushed him farther down the corridor so they were just out of view from the balcony.

“What the—”

Louis lurched forward and pressed his lips to Zayn's mouth as he cupped the sides of his face. Zayn brought his hands up to Louis's wrists as he kissed back, pressed against the wall.

They briefly parted and Zayn whispered out, "What was that for?"

"Can't let Winston or anyone else get a good look at your face right now—if they might guess we were the ones who put the necklace there."

"Yeah. Right. Good thinking,” Zayn panted out.

Louis flicked his eyes from Zayn's mouth to his eyes again. Zayn went forward this time and took Louis's jaw into his hands as they kissed, deeper and longer this time.

"This isn't... just... you doing your job, right?" Louis said in between shallow breaths as Zayn kissed his way down his neck.

"What?" Zayn stopped and looked at him.

"I mean, before, the kisses were just distractions and when you asked me for a drink, it wasn't a real date, and you said that this was a serious operation and we were not here to—"

"Louis, shut up," Zayn groaned as he pushed Louis into the other side of the corridor and pressed their mouths together. Louis's was slightly open, enough for Zayn to slip his tongue inside. Louis moaned and grasped at Zayn's neck as he kissed back, caressing Zayn's tongue with his own. Then he forced a leg in between Zayn's thighs, feeling the hardness there. Zayn gasped and bit at Louis's lip, which made Louis hiss out before he hungrily sucked at Zayn's jaw.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!"

Zayn ruefully pulled away. "Sounds like Winston."

Louis sighed. "God, do we really have to stop now?"

Zayn grinned at him. "Duty calls."

Louis bit his lip as he stared at Zayn, his hair mussed, his lips feeling a bit burned. Zayn turned, but Louis caught him by his shirt collar.

"Oi," he gasped out. Zayn turned around. "One more kiss before we head out?"

Zayn smiled and grabbed Louis's tie before reaching over and pressing a quick, gentle kiss to his lips. "Let's go."

Louis had a huge grin on his face as they walked hand-in-hand through the corridor and out to the main hall.

"...my good friend, Mister Harry Styles! Thank you for having us all here tonight!"

Winston went on a huge spiel about all the charities and organizations Harry had been involved with, and had the lad smiling modestly as they both stood at the top of the steps. After a grand applause at what was presumed to be the end of the speech, Winston continued, “I would also like to take this time to say... you are all about to witness something truly magnificent.”

Louis met a glance of confusion with Zayn as Winston pulled the necklace out of his pocket. He smirked at the crowd. “See, this is no ordinary necklace. It's an ancient relic, presumed to be crafted by the most powerful witch of her time. As soon as I put it on, this necklace is going to make me the most powerful man in the world. Nay, a god amongst men.”

The party guests created a loud collective murmur of confusion. Louis caught eyes with Liam, who was wide-eyed as he stared at Louis. Then he glanced to Zayn, then back at Louis, and his mouth opened in understanding and surprise. Louis pulled his mouth into a grimace as he looked back at him.

“You don't think he's serious, do you?” Zayn asked him.

“What? You mean like he is literally going to become a god with that necklace?”

Zayn stared at him with a tense expression.

Louis scoffed. "Zayn, that's such a load of co—"

A bright light burst throughout the room and seemed to come from Winston. Louis squinted his eyes and saw that he had put the necklace on.

“Shit, Lou, this is real!” Zayn hushed out. “I'll be back.”

“Zayn, where are you going?” Louis hushed out, but he couldn't see him anymore, now that he was blinded by the light.

+

  
  


Zayn did a quick semi-change of outfit in a corridor that went out of the main hall. He had brought his scarf with him and his mask. He'd have to leave on the suit, because he sensed that things were going to get dangerous, if the shaking ground was any indication.

After the light from Winston's necklace faded out, a bright beam of dazzling colors shot out from the necklace and out to the opposite wall of the hall. Lanterns fell and limestone from the wall crumbled down while party guests collectively gasped.

Winston's eyes were wide with delight as he looked down as the jewel in his hand. “Would you look at that? You all are nothing! Nothing compared to my power! I could literally destroy all of you and make room for me to control this city. Then this nation. Then the world!”

Winston held his necklace out and grinned as he aimed it towards one of the chandeliers in the room, causing a ricochet of light beams to fly around the hall and crash into the walls and some of the tables. The party guests screamed and people began to run towards the exit. Harry had been edging away from Winston the entire time, his mouth opened in shock.

"Everyone, be calm and evacuate as orderly as possible!" Liam had shouted as he linked arms with Sophia and herded a group of guests out.

Zayn had taken an alternate staircase to the second floor to escape the stampede and ran until he reached Winston at the top of the staircase. He had his necklace raised and aimed again, this time towards guests. Zayn launched himself and kicked the necklace from his hand.

Winston bent forward and punched Zayn, sending him flying several feet until he hit the ground.

 _What the fuck?_ Zayn thought to himself. _There is no way Winston could be that strong... is there?_

Winston looked down at his fist and laughed. “I must say... when I heard the legend that this necklace was they key to ruling over the entire earth... I didn't imagine it would make me so powerful physically, as well!”

Zayn got back up on his feet as Winston continued to talk.

“Of course, at the time it was created, war filled these lands. Now I understand...” Winston mused as he rubbed his chin. “This wasn't going to give me political power... it was going to give me strength! And a weapon!”

At that moment, Louis ran up and threw an abandoned high heel at Winston's face. “Oi! Knock it off!”

Zayn turned to Louis and wished he hadn't done that. “Get out of here! It's dangerous!”

“I'm not leaving you to deal with this alone!” Louis retorted. His jacket and dress shirt were pushed up to his elbows and he had loosened his tie. His brow was wrinkled in anger and determination. “Winston needs to be stopped.”

“Good luck blocking this!” Winston said as he brought the jewel up and aimed it at Louis.

“Louis, watch out!” Zayn shouted as he sprinted to pushed Louis out of the way, sending him sprawling to the ground. Zayn's scarf got singed by the beam that came from Winston's necklace.

“Come on, Black Streak,” Winston taunted. “Let's see you try and fail to save the day this time!”

Zayn put his hands into fists as he flexed his arms. Louis clambered to a stand and ran over to his side. “Let's do this together.”

Zayn nodded, then told him, “I'll pin him down. You get the necklace.”

Louis nodded in return.

Zayn ran up and whipped his scarf around Winston, sharply enough that he was able to catch the other end, then twist it together as he darted around him, trapping his arms to his side.

Winston grunted and laughed. “What is this?”

Louis lunged forward and grabbed at the necklace, but sharply retreated his hand. “Ah! Fuck! It burned me!”

Winston wriggled and attempted to push at Louis with his body, even though he was restrained. “You can't stop me!”

Louis jumped out of the way in time as Zayn attempted to tighten his grip on Winston, though it was taking a lot of effort.

“I'm getting a bit tired of playing,” Winston muttered as he twisted his body and jerked Zayn from his grip on the scarf. Zayn stumbled forward as Winston lifted up his arms and tossed the scarf aside. As he approached him, Zayn threw a punch into his side, but Winston didn't wince or budge a bit. He threw the back of his hand into Zayn's jaw and sent him flying back until he struck his head on the bannister of the staircase.

Zayn could faintly hear his name being called as his consciousness faded.

+

  
  


Louis was helpless as he watched Zayn get thrown down the staircase, landing with a smack against the bannister. Zayn's head slumped forward as his eyes closed. Louis forgot all about Winston and ran over to him.

"Zayn!" Louis crouched down and hovered over his body. He cradled his head in his hands as he picked it up. "Hey, wake up. You're going to be fine!"

Zayn didn't respond, his eyes still closed and his body limp.

Louis dropped his jaw in horror. “No, no, no, no, no... You have to wake up, Zayn...”

Zayn didn't budge at all beneath Louis's hands.

An annoying, haughty laugh interrupted Louis's dismay. He looked up with a glower at Winston, then turned back to Zayn. Louis lowered Zayn down onto the stairs, then took off his own jacket to provide as a pillow for his head.

“You're going to pay for all that you've done!” Louis shouted as he stood up and readjusted the sleeves of his dress shirt at his elbows.

“You really want to test me, boy?” Winston laughed.

“Ben... You have to snap out of it! This isn't you!” Harry called out from behind one of the couches in the private box. Niall was next to him, a protective hand on his arm.

"Niall! Get Harry to safety!" Louis shouted.

Niall sternly nodded and pulled Harry with him. “We have to get out of here, Harry!”

“But Ben isn't himself and—“

“And he's going to kill us if we don't get out of here!” Niall snapped as he dragged Harry down the stairs with him.

Winston turned to Louis and laughed. “What are you going to do? Save the day? Your hero's already fallen.”

Louis glanced down to Zayn, where he lied unconscious. He swallowed and squared up his shoulders. “Yeah, I'm gonna save the day. Because bad guys like you deserve to be put in jail, where they can't hurt anyone anymore.”

“And what's a little punk like you able to do against a god like me?”

“I'm going to get that necklace off!” Louis retorted as he ran up to Winston. Winston dodged him, then pushed him down to the floor so that he landed on his shoulder. Louis groaned at the pain as he struggled to get up.

“Before I get done with you, there is something I've been curious about...” He walked down to where Zayn was lying.

“What are you doing?” Louis groaned as he finally stood up.

“I'm just finally revealing who's behind the mask!” Winston snatched off Zayn's mask, then grabbed him by the chin to turn his face up.

“Well, I'll be...” Winston gasped.

“Don't you dare touch him!” Louis gritted out as he launched himself onto Winston's back and clawed across his chest to get a hold of the necklace.

Winston shook him off, then turned around to laugh at Louis. “And let me guess? You're the Mary Jane to his Spiderman?”

Louis glared at him. “I don't have to answer that. And you better leave him alone. He had nothing to do with the stupid necklace!”

“He saved the thief who took it from me. That's meddlesome enough.” He brandished the necklace above Zayn.

“Don't!” Louis cried. “It was me. I'm the thief.”

Winston's eyes gleamed in delight. “It really was you, wasn't it? That's why you were here together. I could tell from that cheap suit of yours, you're not a friend of Harry's and you don't belong in this world. Your boyfriend was charming though, I must say...”

Louis narrowed his eyes and growled.

“Well, now the only thing left to do is thank you.”

“Thank me?”

“Because you delivered the necklace to me earlier than bargained and I don't have to uphold my end of the deal with Von Dellen or Garner anymore. I am a god now and nothing and no one will stand in my way!”

Winston grabbed Louis by the throat with one hand, and Louis braced himself by grabbing onto his wrist.

“Ben, let him go!” It was Harry who had yelled, his face wrinkled into an angry expression.

“Harry!” Niall called from far behind as he ran forward. Clearly, he hadn't been able to keep Harry away, which kind of impressed Louis.

“Harry,” Winston cooed as he kept his grip on Louis.

Harry kept the stern look on his face. “You've ruined my party. And... why are you hurting these people?”

“No one is going to stand in my way of total world domination!” Winston cried out. “Not even you!”

Harry stepped back, his brow faltering. “Ben, are you okay?”

“You're of no use to me anymore, Harry.” Winston threw Louis down on the ground. He raised up the necklace.

“Harry!” Niall shouted as he lunged and pushed him out of the way before Winston could hit him. They were sprawled on the ground now, Harry looking up at Winston, wide-eyed with his mouth open in shock.

Niall groaned as he tried to pick himself up off of Harry. “You all right?”

“Yeah,” Harry groaned.

 _There's gotta be something here I can use to fight him!_ Louis thought to himself as he ran down the stairs. He thought for a second—the glass chandelier deflected the light beam. If he could only get something to deflect it with to go straight back to the necklace... He glanced down to the ground where shattered champagne glass was littered. He picked up a large shard.

“What are you going to do with that?” Winston scoffed as he slowly stepped down the stairs.

He powered up his necklace and Louis did a very stupid thing next. He ran up to Winston with the shard held in front of him. He got close enough that the laser hit the glass and bounced back to hit the necklace itself. The jewel immediately began to crack and vaporize, bright beams of light spilling from it.

“No!” Winston cried out as the light got brighter and engulfed him.

The light spread out through the entire hall as Louis shielded himself from it, fists pressed over his eyes.

+

  
  


“Zayn?”

Zayn's eyes slowly fluttered open and the first thing he saw were Louis's blue eyes staring down into his.

"Mmm... What happened?"

"Zayn!" Louis reached down and hugged Zayn across his chest, his head bowed forward and his soft hair clouding Zayn's vision as it brushed along his face.

"What? Did I die?" Zayn asked.

Louis grumbled, "Don't joke about it! I was worried."

Zayn smiled. "I was all right the whole time, Lou." He rolled onto his palms so he could look at Louis upright. He had a bit of a bruise forming on his cheek, but he looked just as vibrant as ever. Zayn reached a hand over and gently cupped his cheek. "Thanks for taking care of me."

"It was nothing," Louis softly replied.

"How sweet,” interrupted a bitter sneer. It was Winston at the bottom of the stairs.

"So the bad guy's still around?" Zayn grunted as he stood up.

"You may have destroyed the necklace, but I still have a gun,” Winston said as he pointed a pistol towards Zayn and Louis.

Zayn put a protective arm in front of Louis. "You coward! You're going to shoot us?"

Winston glared at them. "This is the last time you ever meddle in my business. Say your last goodbyes."

"Goodbye!" Liam stormed through the hall and before Winston knew what hit him, Liam sent a fist into his face. Winston fell down to the floor, knocked out cold.

Liam shook out his fist right after. "Gosh, that was really all it took. Huh..."

"Liam!" Louis exclaimed. “When did you get back?!”

Zayn had his mouth dropped open in shock.

"I just got Soph out of here and then came back because, well, I couldn't proper leave you alone, Lou!” He gave him a warm look. “Anyway, the police just got here.”

“That was fucking amazing!” Niall cheered from where he sat crouched on the floor with Harry.

“Does anyone mind explaining to me what the hell just happened here?” Harry moaned as he brushed tiny bits of glass off his shoulders.

“God, where do I even start?” Louis groaned.

Zayn sighed as he turned back to Louis. "You okay?"

Louis nodded. "Yeah. You?"

Zayn nodded. "Yeah."

Liam approached them after kicking away Winston's gun that had fallen out of his hands. “It's really over now, isn't it?”

At that second the police came bursting in, led by a detective in a suede brown peacoat with knee-high leather boots.

“Detective Watson...” Zayn gasped as he watched her.

Winston was groaning on the floor as the police officers moved past Harry, Niall, and Liam to apprehend him.

"Ben Winston, you are under arrest on the charges of grand theft of royal jewellery,” Detective Watson told him as she looked down on him.

Winston's face contorted in anger. "Impossible! Th—those two lads! They gave it to me!" He pointed a finger up to where Zayn and Louis stood. “I had no idea what it would do to me, and... look at what happened! Isn't it awful that they would do this?”

"We have confirmation from Garner and Von Dellen that you were the one who acquired the necklace,” Watson went on, unphased. “We also have informants who know about the embezzlement deals you've made in the past six months—not to mention the prior embezzlement deals you've made with several politicians. You can't get out of this one, Winston."

Winston's face went white as his jaw remained dropped. He glanced towards Louis and Zayn. "That one right there, the dark one—he's the Black Streak! And the other one is a thief!”

Zayn just now noticed that he didn't have his mask on anymore, as it was lying on the ground next to where he stood. He and Louis quickly glanced to each other, speechless.

Winston laughed, “See, you haven't won! And this won't be the last you hear or see of me! Mark my words!"

"Save all your jabber for the court," Detective Watson said.

“Detective Watson, is it true?” a police officer asked. “Are those two really...?”

Detective Watson raised an eyebrow. “Are you kidding me? These two boys? A superhero and a master burglar? You've got to be joking me! Winston's just desperate.”

The police officer nodded and laughed. “Yeah, like these two small lads could possibly be heroes.”

“Mind your words, Officer Brown. After all, they saved the day today.”

“Sorry,” Officer Brown said before catching up with the rest of the police.

The detective looked between Louis, Zayn, and Liam. "Nice job here, lads.”

They all smiled as Detective Watson smiled at each of them.

“And what he said, was true, wasn't it?” she asked in a lower voice as she took a couple steps up the stairs. “You're the Black Streak...”

Zayn swallowed sheepishly as he glanced toward his feet.

"And.. you're his new sidekick, right?" she said as she looked at Louis.

"My partner, actually," Zayn said. Louis grinned at him.

"You really are just boys..." Detective Watson remarked with a sympathetic stare.

Zayn nervously swallowed. "Are you going to arrest us?"

“Please don't arrest them!” Harry protested as he approached Detective Watson. “Miss, they're the good guys! I saw it all myself. And Ben... I don't know what got into him... but he pulled a gun on them. I just...”

Detective Watson warmly smiled at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sorry about your friend, Harry. But no one here is getting arrested. You guys saved the day. All of you."

"Oh, I just punched the guy," Liam said as he put his hands up in defense. “Louis did most of the work.”

“And I was unconscious for half of the fight,” Zayn added.

“It's true! We saw it—Louis put up an amazing fight,” Niall added as he warmly looked to Louis.

Louis's cheeks warmed. He didn't know how to take this kind of praise. And he didn't realize that he had been the one to do most of the work in the end....

“Um, I... I mean, I guess I...”

“You were a hero,” Zayn told him with a warm look. Louis looked down and swallowed.

The detective smiled. "Well, you all helped put away a bad, powerful man. We've been trying to figure out how to pin Winston for years. Thanks a lot, gentlemen."

"So... you're not going to arrest us, just to be sure," Louis nervously asked as he shuffled his feet.

"No, of course I won't,” she replied with a smile.

"Wow, that's really cool of you," Zayn remarked. "Thank you!"

"Not everyone is going to be like me, though. You all better run before anyone asks you questions. We'll take care of it from here on out."

Zayn smiled wide as Louis dragged him by the hand and sprinted down the stairs, grinning backwards. Finally he didn't get in trouble for helping save the day. And this whole necklace business was done with, all the bad guys put in jail.

And he had Louis.

Everything was great.

+

  
  


Niall and Harry remained in the hall to get patched up while Louis, Zayn, and Liam quickly left through a back entrance of the hall and out onto the street where some of the last remaining party guests had been waiting for their private cars and taxis.

“So are we all going to ignore the fact that magic is real?” Liam blurted out as they walked down the street. “The necklace gave that guy evil powers!”

Louis and Zayn looked to each other and then shrugged.

“It's pretty fucking sick actually.” Louis snorted. “Can't believe that thing was in my room for two weeks.”

Zayn grinned. “And who knows how many more things are out there now?”

Liam shook his head and laughed.

Zayn smiled as he turned towards Liam."Hey, mate, you should think about joining us. You'd be really good..."

"Absolutely not!” Liam frowned and looked down at his hands. “It's bad enough that I had to be involved tonight!"

"It'd be fun, Liam... You'd get to be like Batman..." Louis egged on with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Liam laughed as he warmly looked at him. "Not sure the Missus would approve. God... Soph! Where did she go?"

"I'm sure she's all right Liam,” Louis comforted.

"Still.. I'm going to go check on her. And _you_ have some explaining to do when you get back home!” Liam said as he blatantly looked from Louis to Zayn. Then his eyes softened. “Thanks for saving Louis all those times, by the way. I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, of course. It was my pleasure,” Zayn said as he grinned over at Louis. Louis felt his cheeks flame.

“All right Payno,” Louis grumbled. “Go and get Sophia like you said you would!”

Liam giggled. “Okay. See you later!”

After Liam left, it was only Zayn and Louis left on the pavement, away from the crowd now. Louis turned to Zayn and cleared his throat as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

"So..." he started.

"So..." Zayn repeated as he shuffled his feet.

Louis smiled and scrunched his mouth to the side. "This has been one big wild adventure, hasn't it?"

Zayn smiled. "Yeah. Crazy how this all started from one little jewel heist."

Louis awkwardly laughed. "Yeah, well... Now it's back to normal crime-fighting for you. Hopefully."

"What about you?"

Louis took a hand from his pocket and touched his chest. “Me?”

“Aren't we partners?" Zayn was looking at Louis with big eyes, an eyebrow raised in hope.

Louis grinned. "You want me to keep doing this with you?"

Zayn shrugged. "Only if you want to. After all, you're a hero now."

Louis smiled at him and only took a second's consideration before he agreed. “Okay.”

"Really?" Zayn exclaimed, darting his head up.

"Yeah!"

"Good."

"Zayn," Louis said as he moved forward, not really sure what he meant with just that. But Zayn stared back at him and flicked his eyes down to his lips before he grabbed at a loop on Louis's trousers and moved in quick. Louis caught Zayn with a hand on his neck as their lips met. The kiss never got too deep because they were smiling so much against each other's mouths, but Louis didn't mind that rush and tingle he felt every time Zayn's teeth pressed against his lips, like he couldn't contain it.

"You know, I'm really glad it was you this whole time,” Zayn told him after they parted. “I... I liked you before I even knew you were a thief. Well, not that you're really a thief, but—anyway, I'm glad it was you."

“You liked me before?” Louis gasped, feeling his heart gallop against his ribcage. He couldn't help the huge grin from forming on his face. “I liked you too! I just thought you'd never...”

"Wait—you liked me too? Before you knew it was me?" Zayn asked with widened eyes.

"Well, I agreed to go on a date with you, did I not?" Louis laughed.

"Oh. Yeah," Zayn's mouth widened into a grin as he laughed. “We're idiots, aren't we?”

Louis laughed, then blushed as he looked down. "I'm glad it was you the whole time, too. There's no one else I'd rather have behind that mask."

After a bit of silence and fond gazing, Louis cleared his throat and smirked. "So does this mean now I get discount on comics?"

Zayn bent his eyebrow. "Don't push it."

Louis ducked his head and looked up at Zayn with pitiful, sad eyes.

Zayn rolled his eyes and grinned. "Of course you do, you cheapskate."

Louis laughed. "Hey! Those issues are overpriced!"

Zayn giggled. "Have to help independent comic book shops somehow, right?"

Louis grinned, then looked up towards the sky, which was now a light shade of violet. "Hey look, sun's coming up."

Zayn put a hand over his mouth as he yawned. "Can't remember the last time I ever saw the sun come up."

"We should watch it," Louis suggested as he brought an arm around Zayn's waist and grinned at him.

Zayn smiled back at him, then the sound of a soft engine revved.

Louis glanced to the side, and saw Zayn's bike light up around the corner. "That is still so fucking sick, bro."

Zayn softly chuckled. "Glad you still fanboy about me to my face. Should I expect the same in bed?"

Louis nearly choked on nothing, his face heating up as he followed Zayn to his bike.

"Too far?" Zayn winked at Louis.

Louis got on the bike, then wrapped his arms around Zayn's middle. "Well, I suppose we'll find out soon, won't we?" Louis whispered into his ear.

Zayn shuddered, then turned back to Louis. "Let's watch the sun come up first, yeah? Then sleep?"

Louis smiled. “Sure."

Zayn grinned, then pressed a sweet, slow kiss to Louis's lips as he revved up the bike engine.

"Hold on tight," he whispered as he pulled away.

Louis smiled and tucked his chin onto Zayn's shoulder as they sped off towards the sunrise.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos if you liked it! ^_^


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